A word to Prince Jehu.

First to thou, O thou mighty man have I somwhat to say; thou hast been curious and lovely in thy apparel, and thy face hath shin'd as if thou hadst been on the mount with Christ; thy profession hath been so excellent, that we have been ravished with thee: we never had such hope of the satisfaction of our souls, in the free service of our God, Page  35 in the enjoyment of the promised land, in going up to Jerusalem to worship in the highest of Gods appointments, as we have had in thee; and wilt thou now deceive us? whither shall we go to com∣plain, but to our God who anointed thee, whose messenger we took thee to be? yea, and we are sure thou wast, so long as thou didst keep in his way. Thou (ô Jehu) didst run well, who hath hindred thee? who hath bewitched thee?

But blessed be God, for anointing Jehu to do his work; and blessed be God, for giving Jehu a heart to do so much of the work as he hath done: but what reason can be given why Jehu should play the hypocrite at the lattet end of the day? Is this the reason; Jehonadab counselled him so to do, to take that wise course? truely it looks like such a mans counsel, that compasseth sea & land to make a proselyte, and when he hath so done, he makes him twofold more the child of hell then himself. What Jehonadab hath to say for himself, concerning this matter, we shall see anon. But can this excuse the busi∣ness? surely no: such an excuse freed not our first parents from the curse, neither will it thee Jehu (without repentance) from punishment.

Consider how hateful to God hypocrisie is; you may see it in Christs hatred of it, for he is the express image of his Father; how full of indignation is he against the Scribes and Pharisees! why? because they were hypocrites. In all his sermons & discourses none did he so complain of, & against none was so violent as against hypocrites; yea, when he would express the wickedness of that generation wherein he lived to the full, he calls them hypocrites; Ye Scribes and Pharis•es, hypocrites. It's a comprehensive appellation, it comprehends all other sins in it: hyprocrisie is sin in the abstract, the q••n••ssense of all de∣pravity and contrariety to God. Hypocrisie it's most offensive and loathsome to God, such that he will spue out of his mouth; so offen∣sive it is that God will bring upon the head of an hypocritical genera∣tion, all the deserts of a former wicked and prophane generation, Mat. 23.34 35 36. yea, the state of an hypocrite is made use of in Scripture, as a signal term to set forth the dismal condition of the damned by: The Lord of that servant shall come,* &c. and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.

And yet wilt thou play the hypocrite Jehu? think upon it: will the counsel of Jehonadab save thy back from inheriting the stripes of a fool for this thy wisdom? Plead not the goodness of thy end, nor the uprightness of thy intentions, That all is for the glory of God, and bringing about the will of God; We must not do evil, that good Page  36 may come of it. The goodness of an end, will not sanctifie an acti∣on; but the sinfulness of an action, may pollute and defile the goodness of an end.

But why could not Jehu go through with his work, and pull down the Calves, take away the antient fundamental political bounds of the Idolatrous kingdom in Israel, that so the people might go up without let or hinderance to Jerusalem to worship?

O our kingdom would then be lost, nothing but ruine, confusi∣on and loss would come unto us. If any advantage be to be found in it, it would be another's portion and inheritance, not ours; our kingdom would be lost, the son of David would take it from us. O most miserable kingdom! that is upheld by such abominable bounds & limits that provoke God to so great wrath, to the consuming gene∣rations of men from off the earth; for is it possible that inventions of men should be able to uphold that which God sets himself, yea, all his glo∣rious Attributes against? can it be supposed, that weak man, that is but as the grass that withereth, should uphold that which we fear the promises of the great God cannot?

Suffer the children to cry Hosanna to the son of David, and exalt him as King? no, that must not be tolerated; we must rebuke them, and stop their mouths, imprison them, and hinder their going on in this course; otherwise, what shall we do? our kingdom will be de∣stroyed, and nothing but ruine and destruction will be left us for an inheritance.

Iehu I beseech thee consider these few things.

First, The evil and wickedness of all State-policy, and so of thy State-policy: it's a sin that destroyes more Rulers, then all other sins doth; but particularly, the evil of it appears in these three things:

1. It withdraws from God. This is evident in this example of Ieroboam: his State-policy and wisdom put a necessity upon him of leaving the true God, and committing that great and devouring sin of Idolatry; Calves must be set up, and must be called Gods, and must be worship'd, for if the people go up to sacrifice at Ierusalem, the kingdom will return to the house of David. His carnal reason dictates such strong and feasible Arguments to him, that it was im∣possible for him to hold his kingdom, if that Rehoboam had that advantage of the peoples going up to Ierusalem to worship: there∣fore he must either lose his kingdom, or leave his God; No Idol, no King. Thus his reason of State turned him from God.

And the same reason kept back all the Kings of Israel from going Page  37 to God. Why? if they did, they must lose their kingdom, and that they would not do; they loved their outward concernments better then their God; and therefore rather then hazard the loss of them, (although it was but in appearance to their dim eyes) they would let God go whither he would for them; they would have none of him. But this cost them dear at last, yea, this same reason wrought so strongly upon Israel's Iehu (that enlightened man, whose eyes pierced the confines of heaven, and saw glories, which are not the ob∣jects of every common eye) that it blinded him so, that he could not step over the stumbling-block, the fear of losing his kingdom; yea, if this vanity take but a little place in the hearts of the true children of God, it draws them at a distance from him, as is plain the case of Asa: when through policy he would go and hire the Syrians it smothered the faith that acted in him before, to the destruction of Zerah the mighty Aethiopian, it drew him from his confidence and trusting in the Lord, as the Prophet saith; and many dishonorings of the Lord followed upon it, as the story evidences.

2. It brings great affliction. What affliction did this State-po∣licy bring upon Asa! it brought that sore reproof from God by the Prophet, which so enraged him; it brought great wars upon him: and surely every one will say, they are afflictions. And it's more then probable, that his continuance in that sin, brought that dismal disease upon his feet, that he could never walk uprightly afterward. What affliction brought it upon good Iehosaphat, whose policy made him joyne with Ahab! it brought him into great danger of his life, and drew down wrath upon his own head.

3. It brings utter ruine. What ruine did this calvish State-po∣licy bring upon Ieroboam, Baasha, Ahab, Iehu, and all the Kings of Israel; yea, (by reason of the peoples compliance therewith) the whole nation at last! they are carried away, and their name rooted out from under heaven; yea, had it not been for Gods promise to David, what ruine would it have brought upon Ierusalem it self, and her Kings? How neer ruine did it many times bring her? and God pro∣fesses it was for his promise sake that he had mercy on her.

When the scepter was departed from Judah, and so God not en∣gaged to it by promise, what effect had this State-policy upon that generation of men! among whom Christ himself lived; their policy kept them from receiving Christ the true God, caused them to reject him; for say they, If we receive him, IF WE LET HIM THƲS ALONE, ALL MEN WILL BELIEVE ON Page  38 HIM, and the Romans will come, and take away both our place and nation.

And what great afflictions and destructions it brought upon them, we see in the story of the Macchabees; yea, what utter ruine at last o∣verwhelmed them is evident: have they not been as dung upon the face of the earth, for more then 1200 yeers? So that there's nothing more clear then this, That the ruine of States and Kingdomes, is founded in, and bottomed upon their State-policy; at one time or other, first or last, their walking by the rules and maximes of this policy breaks them to pieces, and brings them to their utter ruine.

Secondly, consider, The pernicious loathsome abomination of Jehonadabs counsel. Hypocrisie is most odious to God, most pro∣voking; yet Iehonadab counsels to that: the righteousness of thy counsellors will not save thee, (ô Iehu:) although they have been ex∣emplary for holiness, and as a beacon upon a hill to shew men the way of life, yet now they commit adultery with this grand strumpet State-policy, God leaves them, and they are become abominable: by how much the more close and spiritual their iniquities are, by so much the more wicked and abominable they are to God: as the most excellent things, once depraved are most vile, base and abject, most de∣structive; so these men now going astray, no counsel so destructive, so contrary to God (in the aggravations of it) as theirs.

But now, Iehu at parting I shall leave to your serious considerati∣on some few of the words of God; it may be you may get meat out of them.

Now the good Lord help thee, Iehu that upon reading this, the maist understand the minde and will of God, and repent, and do t• first works, lest, &c. —