SERMON XXXIII.* PERILOUS TIMES.. This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. You know my way and manner upon these occasions, is to speak as plainly and familiarly as I can, unto what is of our present concernment; and so I design to do at this time, if it shall please God to help under infirmities. The words contain a warning of imminent dangers. And there are four things in them. First, The manner of the warning: This know also.' Secondly, The evil itself that they are warned of: 'perilous times.' Thirdly, The way of their introduction: they shall come.' Fourthly, The time and season of it: they shall come in the last days.' First, The manner of the warning: This know also.' Thou Timothy, unto the other instructions which I have given thee, how to behave thyself in the house of God, whereby thou mayest be set forth as a pattern unto all gospel ministers in future ages, I must also add this: This know also.' It belongs to thy office and duty to know and consider the impending judgments that are coming upon churches. And so, as a justification of my present design, if God enable me unto it, I shall here premise, That it is the duty of the ministers of the gospel to foresee and take notice of the dangers which the churches are falling into. And the Lord help us, and all other ministers, to be awakened unto this part of our duty. You know how God sets it forth Ezek. xxxiii. in the parable of the watchman, to warn men of approaching dangers. And truly God hath given us this law: if we warn the churches of their approaching dangers, we discharge our duty; if we do not, their blood will be required at our hands. The Spirit of God foresaw negligence apt to grow upon us in this matter; and therefore the ScripThis sermon was preached Nov. 3, 1676, being a day set apart for solemn fasting and prayer. ture only proposeth duty on the one hand; and on the other -requires the people's blood at the hands of the watchmen, if they perform not their duty So speaks the prophet Isaiah, chap, xxi. 8. 'He cried, A lion: My Lord, I stand continually -upon the watch-tower.' A lion is an emblem of approaching judgment. The lion hath roared, who can but tremble?' saith the prophet Amos. It is the duty of ministers of the gospel to give warning of impending dangers. Again, the apostle in speaking unto Timothy, speaks unto us also, to us all: This know ye also.'. It is the great concern of all professors and believers of all churches, to have their hearts very much fixed upon present and approaching dangers. We have inquired so long about signs, tokens, and evidences of deliverance, and I know not what, that we have almost lost the benefit of all our trials, afflictions, and persecutions. The duty of all believers, is to be intent upon present and imminent dangers. O Lord,' say the disciples, Matt. xxiv. 'what shall be the sign of thy coming?' They were fixed upon his coming. Our Saviour answers, I will tell you. 1. There shall be an abounding of errors and false teachers: many shall say, 'Lo, here is Christ, and lo there is Christ.' 2. There shall be an apostacy. from holiness: Iniquity shall abound, and the love of many shall wax cold.' 3. There shall be great distress of nations: • Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.' 4. There shall be great persecutions: And they shall persecute you, and bring you before rulers, and you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.' 5. There shall be great tokens of God's wrath from heaven: 'Signs in the heavens, the sun, moon, and stars.' The Lord Christ would acquaint believers how they should look for his coming: he tells them of all the dangers. Be intent upon these things; I know you are apt to overlook them, but these are the things that you are to be intent upon. Not to be sensible of a present perilous season, is that security which the Scripture so condemns; and I will leave it with you in short under these three things: 1. It is that frame of heart which of all others God doth most detest and abhor. Nothing is more hateful to God than a secure frame in perilous days. 2. I will not fear to say this, and go with it, as to my sense, to the day of judgment: A secure person, in perilous seasons, is assuredly under the power of some predominant lust, whether it appears, or not. 3. This secure, senseless frame is the certain presage of approaching ruin. This know, brethren, pray know this, I beg of you, for yours and my own soul, that you will be sensible of, and affected with, the perils of the season, whereinto we are cast. What they are, if God help me, and give me a little strength, I shall shew you by and by. Secondly, There is the evil and danger itself thus forewarned of: and that is, kaipoì xaλɛToì, hard times, perilous times, times of great difficulty, like those of public plagues, when death lies at every door; times that I am sure we shall not all escape, let it fall where it will. I will say no more of it now, because it is that which I shall principally speak to afterward. Thirdly, The manner of their introduction, votýoovtai, 'shall come.'. We have no word in our language that will express the force of iviornμ. The Latins express it by, 'immineo, incido,' the coming down of a fowl unto his prey. Now our translators have given it the greatest force they could. They do not say, ' Perilous times will come,' as though they prognosticated future events; but, 'Perilous times shall come.' Here is a hand of God in this business: they shall so come, be so instant in their coming, that nothing shall keep them out; they shall instantly press themselves in, and prevail. Our great wisdom then will be to eye the displeasure of God in perilous seasons, since there is a judicial hand of God in them: and we see in ourselves reason enough why they should come. But when shall they come? Fourthly, They shall come in the last days,' ev έoXárau nuépais. The words 'latter,' or 'last days,' are taken three ways in Scripture: sometimes for the times of the gospel, in opposition to the Judaical church state, as in Heb. i. 1. ⚫ Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.' And elsewhere it may be taken (though I remember not the place) for days towards the consummation of all things, and the end of the world. And it is taken often for the latter days of churches; 1 Tim. iv. 1. The Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith.' And so the apostle John, 1 Epist. ii. 18. Little chil dren, it is the last time and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now there are many antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time.' And that is the season here intended. But yet you may take it in what sense you will: the last days, the days of the gospel; the last days towards the consummation of all things, and the end of the world; the last days following the days of the profession of churches, those called reformed churches, or our own churches in the ways wherein we walk; and the last days with many of us, with respect to our lives. In whatever sense the words are taken, it is time for us to look what shall come in these last days. But the observation which at present I shall insist on from the text, is this: Observation. When churches have been continued for awhile in their profession, and begin to fall under decays therein, perilous seasons shall overtake them, which it will be hard for them to escape. This know also, that perilous times shall come.' and My design is only to dispose your minds a little to the work of the day: and all I shall do is to shew in several instances what are the things that make a season perilous; what is our duty with reference unto such perilous seasons, both as to particular perils, and perilous times in general. And it must not be said, as once it was of the prophet Ezekiel: He prophesied of things a great way off.' We do not prophecy of things a great way off; no, we shall speak of things that are even upon us, what we see and know, and is as evident, as if written with the beams of the sun. 1. The first thing that makes a season perilous, is, when the profession of true religion is outwardly maintained under a visible predominancy of horrible lusts and wickedness. And the reason why I name it in the first place is, because it is what the apostle gives his instance in, in this place: Perilous times shall come.' Why? For many shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness;' maintaining their pro fession of the truth of religion under a predominancy, a visible, open predominancy of vile lusts, and the practice of horrible sins. This rendered the season perilous. Whether this be such a season or not, do you judge. And I must say by the way, we may and ought to witness against it, and mourn for the public sins of the days wherein we live. It is as glorious a thing to be a martyr for bearing testimony against the public sins of an age, as in bearing testimony unto any truth of the gospel whatsoever. Now where these things are, a season is perilous, 1. Because of the infection: churches and professors are apt to be infected in it. The historian tells us of a plague at Athens, in the second and third year of the Peloponnesian war, whereof multitudes died; and of those that lived, few escaped, but they lost a limb, or part of a limb, some an eye, others an arm, and others a finger; the infection was so great and terrible. And truly, brethren, where this plague comes, of the visible practice of unclean lusts under an outward profession, though men do not die, yet one loses an arm, another an eye, another a leg by it; the infection diffuses itself to the best of professors, more or less. This makes it a dangerous and perilous time. 2. It is dangerous because of the effects; for when predominant lusts have broken all bounds of divine light and rule, how long do you think that human rules will keep them in order? They break through all in such a season as the apostle describes. And if they come to break through all human restraints, as they have broken through divine, they will fill all things with ruin and confusion. 3. They are perilous in the consequence, which is, the judgments of God. When men do not receive the truth in the love of it, but have pleasure in unrighteousness, God will send them strong delusions to believe a lie. So 2 Thess. ii. 10, 11. is a description how the papacy came upon the world. Men professed the truth of religion, but did not love it; they loved unrighteousness and ungodliness, and God sent them popery. That is the interpretation of the place according to the best divines. Will you profess the truth, and at the same time love unrighteousness? The consequence is security under superstition and ungodli ness. This is the end of such a perilous season: and the |