God, and know his love to them, delight to be thus bound, and find infinitely more sweetness in the strict rule of God's holy law, than any wicked man can do in that presumptuous liberty, wherein he allows himself to shake off and break the cords of it.

Now lastly, when we return with sound repentance unto God, then God is pleased to give more than ordinary tastes of the sweetness of his love, by removing judgments, which are the fruits of his anger, from This point falls in with what was handled before on the second verse. Therefore I shall conclude with these two notes:

us.

(1.) That in all judgments God will have us look on them as fruits of his anger, and take more notice in them of his displeasure than our own sufferings. When wrath is gone out, the sword drawn, thousands and ten thousands slain in our coasts; Israel given to the spoil, and Jacob unto robbers; a land set on fire with civil flames, and none able to quench them; a kingdom divided within itself; a church which was sometimes the asylum for other exiled and afflicted christians to fly for shelter unto, miserably torn by the foolish and unnatural divisions of brethren, and dangerously threatened by the policy and power of the common enemy, who studies how to improve these divisions, to the ruin of those that torment them; our work is to make this conclusion, "Our God is angry;" a God that loves freely, who is infinite in mercy and pity, who doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men; this should be our great est affliction; and the removal of this anger by a universal reformation and conversion unto him our greatest business. And I do verily believe that England must never think of out-living or breaking through this anger of God, this critical judgment that

is upon it, so as to return to that cold and formal complexion, that Laodicean temper that she was in before, till she have so publicly and generally repented of all those civil disorders which removed the bounds and brought dissipation upon public justice: and of all those ecclesiastical disorders which let in corruptions in doctrine, superstitions in worship, abuses in government, discountenancing of the power of godliness in the most zealous professors of it, as that our reformation may be as conspicuous as our disorders have been, and it may appear to all the world that God hath washed away the filth, and purged the blood of England from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

(2.) That God's love is the true ground of removing judgments in mercy from a people. Let all human counsels be ever so deep, and armies ever so active, and cares ever so vigilant, and instruments ever so unanimous, if God's love come not in, nothing of all these can do a nation any good at all. Those that are most interested in God's love, shall certainly be most secured against his judgments. Hither our eyes, our prayers, our thoughts must be directed. Lord love us, delight in us, choose us for thyself; and then, though counsels, and treasures, and armies, and men, and horses, and all second causes fail us, though Satan rage, and hell threaten, and the foundations of the earth be shaken; though neither the vine, nor the olive, nor the fig-tree, nor the field, nor the pastures, nor the herds, nor the stall yield any supplies, yet we will rejoice in the Lord; and glory in the God of our salvation; sin shall be healed, anger shall be removed; nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

SERMON V.

I WILL BE AS THE DEW UNTO ISRAEL: HE SHALL GROW AS THE LILY, AND CAST FORTH HIS ROOTS AS LEBANON. HIS BRANCHES SHALL SPREAD, AND HIS BEAUTY SHALL BE AS THE OLIVE TREE, AND HIS SMELL AS LEBANON. THEY THAT DWELL UNDER HIS SHADOW SHALL RETURN; THEY SHALL REVIVE as THE CORN, AND GROW AS THE VINE: THE SCENT THEREOF SHALL BE AS THE WINE OF LEBANON.-HOSEA XIV. 5-7.

IN these verses is contained God's answer unto the second part of Israel's petition, wherein they desired him to do them good, or to receive them graciously; and here God promiseth them several singular blessings, set forth by several metaphors and similitudes, all answering to the name of Ephraim, and the ancient promises made unto him, Deut. xxxiii. 13-17. opposite to the many contrary courses threatened in the former parts of the prophecy under metaphors of a contrary import. Here is the dew of grace, contrary to the morning cloud and the early dew that passeth away, Hos. xiii. 3. lilies, olives, vines, spices, contrary to judgments of nettles, thorns, thistles, chap. ix. 6. x. 8. spreading roots, contrary unto dry roots, chap. ix. 16. a fruitful vine bringing forth excellent wine, contrary to an empty vine bringing fruit only to itself, that is, so sour and unsavoury, as is not worth the gathering, chap. x. 1. corn growing, instead of corn taken quite away, chap. ii. 9. instead of no stalk, no bud, no meal, chap. viii. 7. fruit promised

instead of no fruit threatened, chap. ix. 16. wine promised in opposition to the failing of wine, chap. ix. 2. ii. 9. Sweet wine opposite to sour drink, chap. iv. 18. safe dwelling instead of no dwelling, chap. ix. 3. branches growing and spreading, instead of branches consumed, chap. xi. 6. green trees instead of dry springs, chap. xiii. 5. And all these fruits, the fruits as of Lebanon, which was of all other parts of that country the most fertile mountain, full of various kinds of the most excellent trees, cedars, cypress, olive, and divers others, affording rich gums and balsams; full also of all kinds of the most medicinal and aromatic herbs, sending forth a most fragrant odour, whereby all harmful and venomous creatures were driven from harbouring there and in the valleys of that mountain were most rich grounds for pasture, corn, and vineyards, as the learned in their descriptions of the holy land have observed.

The original of all these blessings is the heavenly dew of God's grace and favour (alluding to that abundance of dew which fell on that mountain) descending upon the church, as upon a garden, bringing forth lilies; as upon a forest, strengthening the cedars; as upon a vineyard, spreading abroad the branches; as upon an oliveyard, making the trees thereof green and fruitful; and as on a rich field, receiving the corn. Here is spiritual beauty, the beauty of the lily, exceeding that of Solomon in all his glory; spiritual stability, the roots of the cedars and other goodly trees in that mountain; spiritual odours and spices of Lebanon; spiritual fruitfulness, and that of all sorts and kinds for the comfort of life. The fruit of the field, bread to strengthen; the fruit of the olive-trees, oil to refresh; the fruit of the vineyard, wine to make glad the heart of man, Psa. civ. 15.

We esteem him a very rich man, and most excellently accommodated, who hath gardens for pleasure, and fields for corn and pasture, and woods for fuel, for structure, for defence, for beauty and delight; and vineyards for wine and oil, and all other conveniences both for the necessities and delights of a plentiful life. Thus is the church here set forth unto us as such a wealthy man, furnished with the unsearchable riches of Christ, with all kind of blessings both for sanctity and safety; as the apostle praiseth God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, namely, election to eternal life, adoption to the condition of sons, and to a glorious inheritance, redemption from misery unto blessedness, remission of sins, knowledge of his will, holiness, and unblamableness of life, and the seal of the Holy Spirit of promise, as we find them particularly enumerated, Eph. i. 3. 13.

The words thus opened, do first afford us one general observation, in that God singleth out so many excellent good things by name in relation to that general petition, "Do us good." That God many times answereth prayer abundantly beyond the petitions of his people. They prayed at large only for good, leaving it (as it becometh us who know not always what is good for ourselves) to his holy will and wisdom in what manner and measure to do good unto them. And he answers them in particular with all kind of good things: as in the former petition they prayed in general for the forgiveness of sin, and God in particular promiseth the healing of their rebellions, which was the greatest of their sins. God many times answers the prayers of his people, as he did the seed of Isaac, Gen. xxvi. 12. with a hundredfold increase. As God's word never returns empty unto him, so the