PhilalethesIrenaeus
Puritan Board Freshman
That sin in the general brings the dreadful judgment of fire upon a people.
Mark, personal afflictions may come upon the people of God for trial, and to show the sovereignty of God, as in the case of Job, whose afflictions were for trial, and not for sin, Job 1. The same may be said of the man who was born blind, John 9.
But general judgments, such as this fiery dispensation was, never comes upon a people but upon the account of sin. This is evident in my text, Isaiah 42:24-25; God set Jacob and Israel on fire, and burnt them round about; but it was because they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. Jer. 4:4, "Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done—burn with no one to quench it." So Psalm 107:33-34, "He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground, and fruitful land into a salt waste—because of the wickedness of those who lived there." The very country of Jewry, as travelers report, which flowed once with milk and honey, is now for fifteen miles surrounding Jerusalem, like a desert, without grass, tree, or shrub. Ah, what ruins does sin bring upon the most renowned countries and cities that have been in the world! Such is the destructive nature of sin, that it will sooner or later level the richest, the strongest, and the most glorious cities in the world.
Just so, the prophet Amos tells us that it is sin which brings God's sorest punishments upon his people: Amos 1:3, "For three transgressions of Damascus," (by which we are to understand the greatness of their iniquities,) "and for four," (by which we are to understand the multitude of their transgressions,) "I will not turn away the punishment thereof." The same is said of Gaza, verse 6, and of Tyre, verse 9, and of Edom, verse 11, and of Ammon, verse 13, and of Moab, chapter 2:1, and of Judah, verse 4, and of Israel, verse 6.
Now it is very observable of every one of these, that when God threatens to punish them for the greatness of their iniquities, and for the multitude of their transgressions, he does particularly threaten to send a fire among them to consume the houses and the palaces of their cities; so he does to Damascus: Amos 1:4, "But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad." So he does to Gaza, verse 7, "But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof." So he does to Tyre, verse 10, "But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre, which shall devour the palaces thereof." So he does to Edom, verse 12, "But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah." So he does to Ammon, verse 14, "But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind." Just so, he does to Moab, chapter 2 verse 2, "But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth; and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of a trumpet." So he does to Judah, verse 5, "But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem."
By all these remarkable instances it is evident that God, by his fiery dispensations, tells all the world that the sins of that people are great and many, upon whom the dreadful judgment of fire is inflicted in its fury; and therefore it is high folly and madness in many men, which makes them impute this heavy judgment of fire to anything rather than to their sins. O sirs, it is sin which burns up our habitations, and which turns flames of love into a consuming fire. And this the Parliament, in their Act for the Rebuilding of the City of London, well observes. The clause of the Act is this: "And that the said citizens, and their successors for all the time to come, may retain the memorial of so sad a desolation, and reflect seriously upon their manifold iniquities, which are the unhappy causes of such judgments: Be it further enacted, That the second of September (unless the same happen to be Sunday; and if so, then the next day following) be yearly forever hereafter observed as a day of public fasting and humiliation within the city—to implore the mercies of Almighty God upon the city, to make devout prayers and supplications unto him to divert the like calamity for the time to come."
So Sir William Turner, knight, in his speech to the king upon the prorogation of the Parliament: "We must," says he, "forever with humility acknowledge the justice of God in punishing this whole nation by the recent dreadful conflagration of London. We know they were not the greatest sinners on whom the tower of Siloam fell," Luke 13:4, "and doubtless all our sins did contribute to the filling up that measure, which being full, drew down the wrath of God upon that city."
So much the king, in his proclamation for a general fast on the 10th of October, observes. The words of the proclamation are these: "His majesty therefore, out of a deep and pious sense of what himself and all his people now suffer, and with a pious care to prevent what may yet be feared, unless it shall please Almighty God to turn away his anger from us, does hereby publish and declare his royal will and pleasure, that Wednesday, being the tenth of October next ensuing, shall be set apart, and kept, and observed by all his majesty's subjects of England and Wales, as a day of solemn fasting and humiliation, to implore the mercies of God, that it would please him to pardon the crying sins of this nation, those especially which have drawn down this last and heavy judgment upon us, and to remove from us all other his judgments which our sins have deserved, and which we now either feel or fear."
Thus you see that not only the blessed Scriptures—but also king and Parliament, do roundly conclude that it was for our sins, our manifold iniquities, our crying sins, that God has sent this heavy judgment upon us. His majesty also well observes, that there are some special crying sins that bring down the fiery judgment upon us.
Brook's Works. Vol. 6. 57-58.
Mark, personal afflictions may come upon the people of God for trial, and to show the sovereignty of God, as in the case of Job, whose afflictions were for trial, and not for sin, Job 1. The same may be said of the man who was born blind, John 9.
But general judgments, such as this fiery dispensation was, never comes upon a people but upon the account of sin. This is evident in my text, Isaiah 42:24-25; God set Jacob and Israel on fire, and burnt them round about; but it was because they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. Jer. 4:4, "Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done—burn with no one to quench it." So Psalm 107:33-34, "He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground, and fruitful land into a salt waste—because of the wickedness of those who lived there." The very country of Jewry, as travelers report, which flowed once with milk and honey, is now for fifteen miles surrounding Jerusalem, like a desert, without grass, tree, or shrub. Ah, what ruins does sin bring upon the most renowned countries and cities that have been in the world! Such is the destructive nature of sin, that it will sooner or later level the richest, the strongest, and the most glorious cities in the world.
Just so, the prophet Amos tells us that it is sin which brings God's sorest punishments upon his people: Amos 1:3, "For three transgressions of Damascus," (by which we are to understand the greatness of their iniquities,) "and for four," (by which we are to understand the multitude of their transgressions,) "I will not turn away the punishment thereof." The same is said of Gaza, verse 6, and of Tyre, verse 9, and of Edom, verse 11, and of Ammon, verse 13, and of Moab, chapter 2:1, and of Judah, verse 4, and of Israel, verse 6.
Now it is very observable of every one of these, that when God threatens to punish them for the greatness of their iniquities, and for the multitude of their transgressions, he does particularly threaten to send a fire among them to consume the houses and the palaces of their cities; so he does to Damascus: Amos 1:4, "But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad." So he does to Gaza, verse 7, "But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof." So he does to Tyre, verse 10, "But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre, which shall devour the palaces thereof." So he does to Edom, verse 12, "But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah." So he does to Ammon, verse 14, "But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind." Just so, he does to Moab, chapter 2 verse 2, "But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth; and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of a trumpet." So he does to Judah, verse 5, "But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem."
By all these remarkable instances it is evident that God, by his fiery dispensations, tells all the world that the sins of that people are great and many, upon whom the dreadful judgment of fire is inflicted in its fury; and therefore it is high folly and madness in many men, which makes them impute this heavy judgment of fire to anything rather than to their sins. O sirs, it is sin which burns up our habitations, and which turns flames of love into a consuming fire. And this the Parliament, in their Act for the Rebuilding of the City of London, well observes. The clause of the Act is this: "And that the said citizens, and their successors for all the time to come, may retain the memorial of so sad a desolation, and reflect seriously upon their manifold iniquities, which are the unhappy causes of such judgments: Be it further enacted, That the second of September (unless the same happen to be Sunday; and if so, then the next day following) be yearly forever hereafter observed as a day of public fasting and humiliation within the city—to implore the mercies of Almighty God upon the city, to make devout prayers and supplications unto him to divert the like calamity for the time to come."
So Sir William Turner, knight, in his speech to the king upon the prorogation of the Parliament: "We must," says he, "forever with humility acknowledge the justice of God in punishing this whole nation by the recent dreadful conflagration of London. We know they were not the greatest sinners on whom the tower of Siloam fell," Luke 13:4, "and doubtless all our sins did contribute to the filling up that measure, which being full, drew down the wrath of God upon that city."
So much the king, in his proclamation for a general fast on the 10th of October, observes. The words of the proclamation are these: "His majesty therefore, out of a deep and pious sense of what himself and all his people now suffer, and with a pious care to prevent what may yet be feared, unless it shall please Almighty God to turn away his anger from us, does hereby publish and declare his royal will and pleasure, that Wednesday, being the tenth of October next ensuing, shall be set apart, and kept, and observed by all his majesty's subjects of England and Wales, as a day of solemn fasting and humiliation, to implore the mercies of God, that it would please him to pardon the crying sins of this nation, those especially which have drawn down this last and heavy judgment upon us, and to remove from us all other his judgments which our sins have deserved, and which we now either feel or fear."
Thus you see that not only the blessed Scriptures—but also king and Parliament, do roundly conclude that it was for our sins, our manifold iniquities, our crying sins, that God has sent this heavy judgment upon us. His majesty also well observes, that there are some special crying sins that bring down the fiery judgment upon us.
Brook's Works. Vol. 6. 57-58.
