4. Vial of his wrath upon us, and curfe our bleffings, that that which within these 4, or 5, years was but a drug, and men would not labour for money, they would have corne, and be glad of it, they would have provifions. Now provisions are a drug, Beef and Butter, it is not currant now, men will give no money for it, they will not part with it: Is it not a Vial of his wrath, or at least a twig of his rod? And is it not meet now to repent, and give him glory, that hath power over this plague, that we be not fenfleffe, and obdurate? And doth not the Lord fay he will curfe our bleflings, he faith so to Minifters, and will any be free? Will any profper when they lay not Gods hand to heart, but make a trifling bufineffe of it? but make account the Lord calls men to ferious confideration of it. To make an end, Let this be the laft Ufe. To teach you what the nature and practife of Repentance is : What is the nature and practise of it? It is lively fet forth in the Text (I might be large herein) they repented not to give God glory: So there is the proper act of repentance, when it rinne's right, in a right chanell, it gives God glory: What glory doth it give God? First, it gives him the glory of his Soveraignty, the Text is plain, as They gave not glory to God that bath power over these plagues; they are Gods plagues,and he hath power to send them, and we fee his hand in them, his plagues they are, and that is the first thing in repentance, to fee it is the hand of God in this kind, and that kind, in any kind that may befall us, Give God the glory of his foveraignty, who hath fent thefe plagues, and this will help us to repentance. 2. Give him the glory of his Juftice, that hath fent them most justly for his part, and on our part molt defervedly: Neb. 9.33. The faithfull in Ifrael say, Thou art juft in all that is come upon us, we have dealt wickedly, and thou hast done righteously. Thus repen tance gives God the glory of his Juftice, as well as of his Soveraignty:we have provoked God to plague us in this or that kind, whether I fpeak to publick States or private perfons, if any evill lyes upon us, it is the hand of God, whether it come for one end or other, and (beleeve it) it is for us to give him the glory of his juftice, as well as of his foveraignty: We have given him just cause by our worldly mindednesse, by our cftrangement from the the Lord, and spirituall work, and falling fhort of our fpirituall aimes and ends: we cut short our growth in Christianity, and the Lord cuts short our outward eftate: Doe you think a Christians outward estate fhall profper,when his inward eftate growes leaner and leaner ? And as you give him the glory of his jultice and foveraignty. So, 3. Give him the glory of his truth, which thefe wicked perfons would not give him the glory of: To acknowledge their religi on was a dead fea,like Mare mortuum,to acknowledge the bloudthirstinesse of their Priests and Jefui's, they fhall drink bloud therefore, they would not acknowledge reformation, but blafphemed it as hereticall innovation, and therefore the Lord had poured a vial upon their great lights in Church and Cominonwealth, and will doe it more and more till they be confumed; they give not God the glory of his truth: As Iofuah faid to Achan, Lofb.7.19. My fon give glory to God, and tell me truly what thou hast done And he told him truly, there was fome hope of fome feed of repentance; and it is not poffible a man fhould truly repent before God, in confeffing what hath been wickedly done, if he denyes any thing that his confcience tels him is truth: Nay, fome give God the glory, and tell me now what thou haft done? If a man hide it under his tongue, it is not poffible hee fhould repent, why? for he cannot give God glory,he gives him not the glory of his truth, and then there is no repentance. And, 4. What doth repentance give God the glory of? as of his foveraignty,and juftice,and truth, in making humble confeffion of it where we are called, if we have juft occafion; fo the Lord requires that we should give him the glory of his mercy and grace, that we looke for all our pardon and mercy in the bloud of the Lord Jefus,and in unfeigned feeking after fellowship with him,, beleeving on his grace, confefling what is finfull, turning from cur evill wayes,laying hold of eternall life, & of every gift of the Spirit, that might quicken us in every fpirituall duty, that we might depend upon his grace for pardon,and healing of our bottomleffe depth of unbeleefe for the changing of our hearts, and quickening of our fpirits; this gives God the glory of his grace, thus repentance doth : In the 130. Pfal. 3, 4. If thon Lord shouldeft marke iniquity, who then should stand? There they give him the the glory of his justice; but there is pardon with thee that thou mailt be feared, there they give him the glory of his pardoning mercy; thus ought all to do, that unfaignedly defire to walk in the ferious practife and ufe of repentance: You never repent kindly whiles a spirit of bondage lyes upon you, and makes you fenfible of the wrath of God and hell,that alone will never bring forth kindly repentance, but when the Lord helps us to give him the glory of his power, that he fwayes and rules in all, and that wee give him the glory of his juftice, that hath righteously plagued us, and the glory of his truth to confeffe truly what is done amiffe, and the glory of his grace to pardon fin, and heale the foule, this is repentance, and without this there is no repentance: It is a wonder to fee when people provoke God and the Church, how little able they are to give God glory,but take glory to themselves still, it was thus and thus, and might have been interpreted thus and thus, it is a wonder to fee how little they give God the glory, our own glory lyes fo neere us: And therefore it behoves us, as we defire fincerity, to repent; fo to make confcience of giving him, glory, let ail run in that ftreame, that we acknowledge his jultice, and truth, and mercy, and grace, and look up to him for receiving from him whatever is of his mercy and grace needfull for us, and then we fhall avoid those plagues and judgements which are threatned or gone forth against us, and shall recover from under Gods hand, like gold out of the fire. THE THE FIFT VIALL REVEL. 16.10,11. And the fifth Angell poured out his Viall upon the feat of the Beaft or, as the word is in the Originall, the Thrones and his Kingdome was full of darkeneffe, and they gnawed their Tongues for paine, And blafphemed the God of Heaven because of their paines, and their fores,andrepented not of their deeds. I N these words you have defcribed the First by the fubject on which it was Secondly by the effect of it, which is double. 1. Proper and primary [ His Kingdome was thereby darkened] 2. The fecondary and accidentall events were three. 1.Anguish and indignation [ They gnawed their Tongues for paine.] A 2.Be 2.Blafphemy [They blafphemed the God of Heaven.] This Scripture and the interpretation of it, is the more difficult, because it is generally conceived that the execution of Gods judgements upon the Beall, hath not yet gone beyond thepowring out of the fourth Viall, therefore conjectures about it, will be the more difficult, and it may be more uncertaine yet because the Scripture in it felfe is not darke, how darke fo ever we may be in our apprehenfions:The Kingdome of the Beast is darke, but not the Kingdome of Chrift. And the Lord hath ¡ romised a gracious blelling upon all that read, and heare the words of this prophecy, Chap. 1. verse 3. fo that by the comparing of one part of this prophecy with another, and obferving the due poife of every word in his place, with holy feare and reverence, the Lord is wont to lead his people into truth, according to the promife made to the Apostle, John 16.13. (which is fulfilled to every fucceffour of theirs in fome measure) Let us therefore goe on in the feare of God to confider of these things. First the difficulty chiefely lyeth in opening the fubje& whereon this Viall will be powred, for open that,and the rest will be cleare. The feat of the Beaft is generally taken for th City of Rome, and it is confirmed from the like fpeech, Rev. 13.2. Where the Dragon gave the Beast his power, and his feat (or throne) and great authority, and therefore they gather from hence the tuine of Rome, applying alfo hereunto fume prophecies of the Sibills, who in their Language tell us thus much, that Rome fhall then be deflate, and be as if it had never been a ftate. Now though we have much cause to glorificGod for the labours of fuch of his fervants as have gi e that expofition, yet I must confeffe I cannot reft fatisfied with that interpretation: for I finde it cleare in the fequell of this Chapter, that Babilon (which is doubtieffe meant of Rome As throughout the feventeenth Chapter it is al' is faid to come up into Remembrance before God in the 19. verse of this Chapter, and that is in the powring out the feventhViall, which implyeth that before,ic came not up in remem. brance before God in point of actuallyu fhment, for things are faid to come up into remembrance before God, when |