Page:Last publick sermon, being a faithful and free one, preached by Mr. Hugh Mackaile ... upon the Sabbath immediately preceeding that 8th of September 1662, the day affixed for the removing of the ministers of Edinburgh from their kirks.pdf/19

( 19 ) the nearer to an End, Matt. xxiv. 21. 22. Then fall there be great Tribulation, ſuch as was not ſince the Begin- ning of the World, no nor ever fall be ; and what follows, except theſe Days ſhould be ſhortnes no Fleſh ſhould be ſaved, but, for the Elett's Sake, theſe Days ſhall be ſhortned. So that Violence is an evident Demonſtration of short Conti- nuance. How great a Damp might this be to the Fury of Enemies, if thoroughly weighed? Certainly, as 'tis the Wiſ- dom of God's People, when they embark in Religion, to conſider ſeriouſly what it may coſt them, ſo likeways ought Enemies to do, whether they be able to perfect what they have begun, whether they be able with their thou finds to meet God with his twenty thouſands, or elſe, while the Lord is yet afar off, to fend Ambaſſadors and ſue for Peace. 4thly, Confider that, in the Time of hotteſt Tribulation, God hath a Feaſt to give his People; the Spouſe doubts not that it is, but inquires where it is, Where feedeſt thou thy Flocks at Noon? Let them be in a Wilderneſs, he rains down Manna upon them; let them be ſurrounded with Enemies, he covers to them a Table in the midst of their Enemies. When Enemies empty one Cup, he makes another to overflow and run over. There are two Things reſerved to the People of God, which the hotteſt Perſecution cannot deprive them of, which makes up their Feaſt; firſt Sustentation, secondly Delight. For the firſt, not to ſpeak of that outward Proviſion he makes for his People, oftentimes preſerving them from the bloody De- ſigns of their adverſaries, he will raiſe up an Obadiah that will feed the Prophets of the Lord by fiſties in Caves, there is a ſpiritual Suſtentation which he affords unto them, keeping them from finking under Discouragements; ſo that, with the Apoſtle Paul, they know how to want as well as how to abound; how to be hungry as how to be full ; how to be ſtraitened as how to be enlarged; having learned in