go (saith God) and eat unclean things, as for the Cove∣nant with me it is wholly abolished, I will own them no more than the very impure Heathen, they would make Leagues with the Assyrians, wel, they shal partake wth them and be filthy and unclean as he; and they defiled Gods Worship by mixing heathenish polutions with it, now God gives them up to all Heathenish uncleanness, as they were like the Heathens in inward uncleanness, so let them be (saith God) in outward uncleanness. There is these two Notes.
First, Those that will make Leagues with wicked men, it is just with God that afterwards they should come and be inthrall'd in all the wickedness and abominations of those wicked men. They were indeed at a distance from them before, but when once the peace is made, they come now to be all one with them.
But the main is this, That, when men are inwardly unclean, God doth not care for their outward cleanness. Thus many professors of Religion defiling their consciences, and be∣coming like the wicked in inward sins, at length God leaves them up to themselves that there should be no diffe∣rence between them and the wicked in their outward a∣bominations. Have you not known some examples in this kind?
Lastly, If it be such a judgment to eat unclean things with the Gentiles, even meat to satisfie thier hunger, Cer∣tainly then it is a fearful evil for any of the Saints to partake with ungodly men in unclean wicked worship. There might be as much excuse for this as one could imagin, why Lord (they might say) shall we starve? True, they might no question eat that which was unclean rather than starve, but yet it was a great misery that they were in, that they could have nothing to eat but that which was unclean: but now the other is, not only an affliction, but sin, and indeed the moral of it is to shew the great evil that there is in joyning with any way of false worship; to joyn false worship it is a