residue that escaped
to Egypt, and thought to shelter themselves there, as likewise those that
remained in Jerusalem, and held out that siege with Zedekiah,--even all
these did fall under the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence, till
they were consumed, Jer. xxiv. 8, 10. Let those that are longest spared
take heed they be not sorest smitten. Say not with Agag, "The bitterness
of death is past." The child chastised in the afternoon weeps as sore as
the child chastised in the forenoon. Remember the Lord will not take away
the judgment till he have performed his work, yea, his whole work, and
that upon Mount Zion and Jerusalem itself. It is no light matter; the rod
must be very heavy before our uncircumcised hearts can be humbled, and the
furnace very hot before our dross depart from us. We have need of all the
sore strokes which we mourn under, and if one less could do the turn, it
would be spared, for the Lord doth not afflict willingly: we ourselves
rive every stroke out of his hand.

But, in the fourth and last place, let us give God the glory of his mercy
also; he means to do us good in our latter end. It is the hand of a
father, not of an enemy: it is a refining, not a consuming fire. The poor
mourners in Zion are ready to say, "Our bones are dried, and our hope is
lost: we are cut off for our parts" (Ezek. xxxvii. 11); we are like to lie
in this fire and furnace for ever, because our dross is not departed from
us; we are still an unhumbled, an unbroken, an unmortified generation;
yea, many like Ahaz, in the time of affliction, trespassing yet more
against the Lord, many thinking of going back again to Egypt. To such I
have these two things to say for their comfort: First, There is a remnant
which shall not only be delivered, but purified, and shall come forth as
gold out of the fire. The third part shall be refined, and the Lord shall
say, "It is my people," Zech xiii. 9. And a most sweet promise there is
after the saddest denunciation of judgment: Ezek. xiv. 22, 23, "Yet,
behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both
sons and daughters; behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall
see their ways and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the
evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all the evil that
I have brought upon it. And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways
and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all