Watch For ye know not the Time Yet I shall shew you That hath quite another sense And that it speaks that every one should look that they have the Truth of Grace and Oyl in the Vessel and the Wedding Garment This is the Watchfulness that the Spirit of God confines us to But in the mean time we ought to be upon our Watch-Tower and to know the Times appointed by God For it is great Hypocrisie However we may think it Great Modesty that we do not Discern the Signs of the Times To be Instructed in the Times from the Signs the Scripture hath given us from Time to Time That we may come to know when this Great Coming of the Kingdom of Christ shall be And that our Hearts may be greatly preparing and in a Readiness for that Great Day c. is one Branch of the great Duty of Waiting for his Appearance SERMON V. Near the Time of the Shaking in London c. On Matth. XXV Ver. 1. and so on to Ver. 13. Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto Ten Virgins which took their Lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom THE Words that I shall place the present Discourse upon are those Viz. While the Bridegroom Tarried while the Bridegroom delayed While the Bridegroom Delayed his coming While He whiled out the Time As we in our English Language speak and as the Greek Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifys While the Bridegroom Delay'd or Tarried or spent Time They all Slumbred and Slept I have you know in this Parable shewn you the Great Intention of it That it Represents the Glory of that Nuptial Feast That Wedding That Marriage of the Lamb. And I have already opened the several Preparatory Particulars in it I shall now at this Time Discourse upon what I have proposed The Bridegroom Tarried And so I shall endeavour to lay this Foundation That the coming of Jesus Christ hath not been since He spoke this Parable Neither is it yet immediately to be The Bridegroom Tarried And therefore herein I shall endeavour to open to you First How strange it is according to Scripture-Discourse that the coming of Christ has been so long delay'd And I shall Answer to you the Objections that arise from it against the Truth of Scripture concerning the Bridegroom's coming And so how this delay and many Scriptures can be reconciled In the Second Place I shall give you the two Great Reasons especially why the Bridegroom 's coming is Delay'd And then In the Third Place I shall enquire the Signs when this Tarrying of the Bridegroom is like to be at an End And I shall endeavour so to Discourse this as to resolve you concerning the Present Face of the World That we are in a Time you know all very well of very great Commotions of the Nations and as the Scripture Expression is We hear of Wars and Rumours of Wars continually And you know God hath both in other Nations and in a part of this Nation the beyond the Sea given us Great Reason to consider that shaking of the Earth that was so dreadful in a part of our Nation tho beyond the Sea And that gentle Admonition that he hath given us of it so lately in this very place In this very City I would therefore Discourse that point to you how far we may look upon these as Signs of the near Coming of the Bridegroom And then I shall close up the whole in the Application of it I begin with the First And that is to Discourse to you how strange it may seem and disagreeable to Scripture that the Bridegroom hath so long Delayed his Coming And I shall remove the Objectons against the Truth and Verity of Scripture Notwithstanding the Delay of the coming First therefore it seems very strange that such an Evil State of the World should continue beyond the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ Seeing there is such an Infinite Grace of God in a Mediator and that he pleased to give his own Son to Lost Man That whoever believes in him should not perish bat have Eternal Life It is no wonder we may be ready truly to say That the World continued till Christ came till He Dyed and Rose again and till there was an Universal Preaching of the Gospel in His Name But why should it last any longer So Great a Thing was done Then in the World that there can be no Expectation of such another And therefore sure there was nothing now to do but for Christ to have a Kingdom as Great and as Large and as Glorious as the Scripture assures he shall have For as I have noted to you and I desire that you would bear as I have said before That Scripture in your Mind Gal. 4. 4. When the Fullness of Time was come God sent forth his Son It is no wonder that Time should last till The Fullness of Time came But that it should last beyond is very strange God sent forth his Son made of a Woman made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of Children And God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son to all those that are his Children to cry Abba Father These were so Great Things that till this Fullness indeed it is no Wonder at all that God bore up the World because he had such a Great Discovery of his Love and of his Grace to make and by which Men had been Saved all along before even the Fathers in the Old Testament And by which Salvation is to be alone expected and received 'T was no Wonder therefore I say that God bore up the World to that Fullness of Time But now it is strange that it should last any longer than that It is Wonder there has not been a Kingdom of Redemption and of Glory ever since But now to Answer you in that Particular and by a Place of Scripture as Notable as this Fullness of Time is There is another far Greater Appearance of the Glory of the Redemption of Christ For you know All That was in Humiliation It was in an Incognito-State in a Disguise of the Son of God Humbling Himself into the Form of a Servant and to Death the Death of the Cross But All This is to Appear in Glory And as there was a Fullness of Time for that First Manifestation of Christ So there is Ephes 1. 10. a Dispensation of the Fullness of Times not only of Time but of Times or of All Time That he might gather together in One all things in Christ both which are in Heaven and which are in Earth even in Him Till that Date be come the Kingdom of Christ cannot be Let me therefore desire of you That you would keep these Two Places of Scripture always in your Thoughts with Relation to the First Coming of Christ and with Relation to his Second Glorious Coming and Appearance There is the Fullness of Time and
that are in the Graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation They come immediately forth each to their own state that state wherein they have been since Death and at Death So Dan. 12. 1 2. There shall be a time of great trouble And many of them that sleep in the dust of the Earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt For the Spirits that have been with God and Christ they come with the blessed assurances of that state and condition And they that have been in Chains of Darkness to the Judgment of the Great Day under the knowledge of that they come under the Judgment of eternal fire as the expression is in the Apostles Peter and Jude Every one They come as it were breathing and carrying upon them the favour the odour of that state and condition wherein they have been The Spirit of a Man knows its own state even when it returns into the Body And there is this great Scripture that doth assure us if you should think that what I have already given doth not rise up to the very Point Rom. 2. 15. You shall see in what manner all come forth at that day They shew the work of the Law written in their hearts their Conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another in the day observe that in the day when God shall judge the secrets of Men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel Here 's the manner in which they come forth in that day they come with Thoughts either accusing or excusing And then saith the Apostle is the time when there is that vigorous Accusation or Excusation of Conscience it is in the day when God shall judge the secrets of Men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel So that Men rise even in that Midnight-Cry when they come into Bodies with Thoughts full either of Accusation or Excusation They come with all their Thoughts about them they do not leave their Thoughts either in Heaven or in Hell but they come with Thoughts either accusing or excusing That 's the first Argument 2. The second Argument is this They know in what Company they come and whether they are in the Glorious and Blessed Company or not For it is very evident the Saints come together with Christ and therefore they are assured because they know the Company they come along with So in 1 Thes 4. saith the Apostle The dead in Christ God will bring them with him So they come with Christ they know that they come in his company and they are assured There is a great deal of difference you know between those that come along with the Judge and make a part of his Honourable Retinue and Attendance and those that come out of Prison and behold the Face of the Judge as sitting in Judgment upon them 1 Thes 4. 14 15. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him For we say unto you by the Word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the Coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep They shall certainly come with Jesus Christ And so Zach. 14. 5. The Lord my God shall come and all the Saints with thee They come in the Glory of the Company of Jesus Christ And this our Saviour calls a Being set at the Right Hand It is the very same thing with that Mat. the 25. He shall set the Goats on the Left Hand and the Sheep on the Right That is they come with him on his Right Hand And in that Scripture Rev. 19. It is said The Heavens opened unto Jesus Christ and the Armies which were in Heaven they follow him on White horses Ver. 11. And I saw Heaven opened and beheld a White-horse and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True His Eyes were as a flame of Fire Ver. 12. And it is said The Armies which were in Heaven followed him upon White-Horses Ver. 14. That is The Saints in Bodies of Glory For the White Horses and the Fine Linnen White and Clean that are there named mean the Glory of the Saints in Bodies of the Resurrection On the other side the Wicked they come Aloof they come no nearer nor no faster than they must needs they are forced and called for as Prisoners in Chains and Fetters must come that are brought And so they must come in this way Sinners and Wicked Persons that have not Repented nor Believed in Jesus Christ that have not the White Horses to Ride upon and the Fine Linnen White and Clean to be Arrayed in And it brings in The Third thing For the very Bodies the very Cloaths that the one and the other will have on do enough assure them exactly what they are whether the Saved or the Miserable whether the Happy or the Unhappy I say The garments wherewith they are Cloathed For while Saints have Linnen White and Clean the Wicked they are Dark and Duskie they are in Prison-Cloaths and Prison-Raggs they have Fetters about them They know by that as well as Men know by theit Garb what the State and Condition of one another is Now this I look upon to give the Reason to that Expression Rev. 16. Just when Christ is coming he said Just at the very time when he is coming Ver. 15. Behold I come as a Thief Blessed is he that Watcheth and keepeth his Garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame Blessed is he that watcheth c. That is Blessed is he that looks well to it that when he rises again he may have a Robe of Immortality That he may have a Garment suitable to that State Suitable to the Glory and Excellency of that Time Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his Garments hath so taken care to lay off the Cloathing of the Body that when he comes into it again it may instead of all the Darkness and Corruption In which it lay down it may be a Body of Glory a Body Incorruptible as it is said in the 1 Cor. 15. 52. The Dead shall be raised Incorruptible They shall be Raised He speaks evidently of the Saints of Christ They shall be raised in a moment Incorruptible And that 's the first thing that I have laid down and endeavoured to Argue to you The time of Christs coming That will be the time when that Midnight-Cry shall be and that when we shall be in the first hearing of it and come forth we shall know in what state and condition we are First By the Notices given to us from our Spirits from our Thoughts Accusing or Excusing at that very time in that very day And then Again from the Company we are in whether we come with Christ or whether we are
that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom And the Friend of the Bridegroom rejoyceth when he hears the voice of the Bridegroom That is when he finds that he speaks to any Heart and draws any Soul to him How Happy would it be if in this Discourse the voice of the Bridegroom might be heard and discovered in any of our Hearts and that it might be known that this Preaching of Christ hath prevail'd at all upon any Soul This is to Rejoice in hearing the voice of the Bridegroom O therefore that this Joy might be fullfilled in you that hear and in me that am speaking to you But as he goes on he must encrease and I must decrease That is In all wherein we may seem to be serviceable to Christ or serviceable to the Souls of Men that must go off And then the Kingdom and Glory of Christ Himself that is It that must encrease And therefore for those that hear and those that speak to meet one another in that Great Solemnity and in that Great Glory and to find that all is gone off but only Christ How Glosious and how Blessed will this State be I shall therefore endeavour to open this Great Point in some measure unto you Though I know it is not possible to speak of it as it is to be spoken of But I shall therefore First Lay down this as a Great Scripture-Point as a Great Scrippture Truth That there is such a Marriage-Union betwixt Christ and his Church and betwixt Christ and every particular Soul In the second place I shall endeavour to shew you wherein it stands at the present First In the Opening of it I shall shew you That there is a State of it Now. And then That there is to be the Glory and the Heighth of this State in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Therefore I shall endeavour to shew you wherein it stands now And then In the third place How the Glory of it shall break out and in what Expressions the Scripture hath assured that to us And therefore that every one of us should look upon our Profession as a Fitting and a Preparation to that Great Solemnity of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. I. The first Scripture by which I shall make it evident to you is indeed a Scripture full of Mystery full of Figure of Metaphor and Emblem and therefore it may not be so eaâ—ie to your Apprehension It 's that of the Song of Solomon It is an hard thing almost to advise you to the Reading of it because it lies hid under Veils It â—ies hid under curious Allegories and Representations But that is the very â—ense of it Chap. 1. 3. Thy Name is as Ointment poured forth therefore do the Virgins love thee Draw me we will run after thee The King hath brought me into his Chambers we will be glad and rejoice in thee we will remember thy Love more than Wâ—ne the upright love thee Ver. 3 4. All this it is but Metaphor Representing Christ as Drawing with the Savour of his Good Ointments As Persons make themselves Acceptable by those things that draw and win upon the Sense and so upon the Sense of Smelling This Savour of his Good Oyntment draws Souls to Christ That is those Rich Spiritual Excellencies in Him win upon the Souls of those that are indeed truly his that are indeed Virgins They draw the Love of Souls after Christ The Pardon of Sin His Righteousness His Resurrection in the Power of it His Death in the Power of it His Life in the Power of it The Glory of His Kingdom These Draw Souls Draw me we will run after thee And the upright love thee All that have Sincerity in the Profession of Christianity they truely love him And thus there is a Thread drawn throughout that whole Book till it comes to the very Glory of the Kingdom of Christ The last Words signifie it Make haste my beloved and be thou like a Roe or to a Young Hart upon the Mountains of Spices That is The State of the Kingdom of Christ is just like a Mount of the most Aromatick of the Sweetest Perfumes of Glory and Happiness This is the first Scripture that lays this great Point down before us And there are many Expressions especially in that Evangelical Prophet the Prophet Isaiah comparing the Union betwixt Christ and his Servants to a Marriage and to a Marriage that shall be solemnized at last in Glory But the second Scripture that I would give you concerning it is Ephes 5. Where the Apostle does draw or delineate this very whole Representation before us in the Beginning and in the Perfection of it And indeed he introduces the very first Institution and Appointment of Marriage to bring it all to this That there was in it a much more Glorious Purpose to prepare for and to Represent the Union betwixt Christ and his Church In speaking therefore of the Duty of Husbands to their Wives he enters into this Great Discourse saith he The Husband is the Head of the Wife even as Christ is the Head of the Church and he is the Saviour of the Body Therefore as the Church is subject unto Christ so let the Wives be to their own Husbands in every thing And Christ as an Husband ver 25. He loved the Church and gave himself for it That he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word That he might present it to himself a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish For indeed as I shall presently shew you out of a Great Type of the Law of Moses in this Thing Christ takes those whom he must Beautifie He takes those whom he must every way fit for so great an Enjoyment as that of Himself He takes them out of Corruption out of Impurity and Defilement in a Miserable and Loathsome and Captivated State and Condition But he never leaves till he brings it to this That he may present them to Himself That he may take them to Himself without spot or wrinkle or any such thing And then saith he for this Cause a Man shall leave his Father and Mother and shall be Joyned to his Wife and they shall be one flesh This is a Great Mystery But I speak concerning Christ and the Church That is Here lies the Mystery the Great Point that I intend to present to you that close Union that is betwixt Christ and his Saints And it comes as I told you to that Gloty that He presents it to Himself a Glorious Church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing And if you would know when this is It is at the time of the Kingdom of Christ at the time when he hath destroyed False Christianity that Christianity that is called in the Professors and Profession of it The Whore When that is quite taken away that is when all False Christianity shall be driven out of the
of the Judgment that there ought to be such a kind of Preparation And that it is agreeable to the Law of God for the Wisdom and Decency of such a Solemnity as Marriage I shall not insist upon that But it is very clear that such a thing was in use among the Jews and that the Law hath very great regard and respect to such a thing and that the Scripture is drawn out in such a manner of Expression Now It is nothing to speak of the Figure that 's not at all to my purpose But to let you know that there is a Time of Espousals of Sculs to Jesus Christ According to this and to Ground the Allusion to you upon it we find Matth. 1. 18. The Birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise When as his Mother Mary was Espoused to Joseph before they came together Before they came to dwell together and to have the Marriage Solemnized while she was his Spouse and so the Gospel History goes on So I say there is an Espousal of Souls to Jesus Christ and that is in the present State in the present State wherein we are under the Preaching of the Gospel wherein we are under the motions of the Spirit of Christ Here Christ begins and he Sanctifies and Cleanses by the Washing of Regeneration and by his Word that he may present every Soul There 's the method of it It begins here in a preparation And therefore we should consider whether we are under this preparation now for Jesus Christ Whether our affections are drawn to him Whether we hear the Voice of the Bridegroom speaking to us Whether we have found the Savour of the Good Oyntments of Christ and that it is not a Savour of Death As the Apostle speaks in that great Scripture 2 Cor. 2. 14. Now Thanks be unto God which always causeth us to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest the Savour of his knowledge by us in every place The Savour Osme that is the rich Perfume in every place as in Solomons Song saith he Because of the Savour of the good Oyntments The Virgins Love thee And draw me and we will run after thee Thy Name is Oyntment poured forth Now the Apostle speaks just as if he had taken his words out of that of Solomons Song Saith he Who maketh manifest the Savour or Perfume the Odour or perfume of the Knowledge of Jesus Christ For saith he We are unto God a sweet Savour of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish That is whether Men are taken and drawn and perswaded by this Savour Odour or Rich Perfume or not it is all one Suppose the Perfume does not go down into our Hearts and into our Thoughts and Affections yet it arises up to Heaven and there it is accepted If there be none of you that hear or I that speak at this Time Which I hope is far different who find the Savour and Excellency and Perfume of Christ and of his Doctrine and of the Knowledge of him yet still this Savour this Odour rises up to Heaven and God is pleased with the Savour tho we find nothing at all in it But saith he we are to some a Savour or Odour of Death unto Death That is if a Man saith I find nothing that you can say offering the strong scent and Knowledge of Jesus Christ I do not find the Attractive and VVinning Virtues and Powers of it They do not at all prevail upon me This is certainly unto Death A Savour of Death without Life and unto Death As it is said of natural Odours and Scents that they wrap and twist themselves about the Brain and win upon the sensitive Power of a Man and so they draw and please and allure In the very same manner the Knowledge of Christ VVhen we hear of a Crucified Saviour who dyed for our Sins and to bring us out of this Misery and Ruine it gives us the Savour it wraps it self and Twists and Twines it self about our Minds our Hearts and Affections and we cannot stir away from it because it is so excellent so desirable Here 's a Savour of Life here 's a quick and a powerful Savour But now on the other side when Men find not when they feel not any such thing They say this is a Dead Root It hath not the proper scent of such a Root and it is not such a Rich and an Admirable Oyntment as you speak of we find nothing at all in it If we speak of Eating and Drinking and Buying and Selling and Riding out and Enjoying and taking Pleasure and having great Entertainments of Company this we understand But to say Get into Christ mind Him get the Assurance of the Love of God in Him Pardon of Sin in Him We find nothing in this It is a Dead Savour Why then saith the Apostle It is to Death It argues all is to Death Or in another comparison if we should bring as Physitians say a strong Suffumigation to the Nostrils of a Person that is in a dangerous state as the way is to bring strong Scents just under their Nostrills those that are proper to stir up the Brain and no Effect follows This is to Death The man is a Dead man So when Christ is brought and the Doctrine of his Salvation to a Soul and there is nothing at all of Worth Effect or Efficacy This Death is unto Death Just as such a kind of Suffumigation brought to a Dying Person and no Effect argues That he 'll die presently if the strongest Savours and Perfumes have no Effect and the Brain is just ready to be laid asleep in Death So Conscience and Inward Sense which God hath planted in a man in order to Spiritual Life if they stir not at the Savour of Christ it argues a person left of God and he is under the Doom and Sentence of Death If our Gospel be hid it is hid to them who are lost Further To Represent the main Point we are upon to you to shew you in what a State we are now give me leave to make use of a Type in the Law of Moses in this Thing because it doth greatly Represent it and I make no doubt it was intended to this very purpose that I am now speaking of It is said Deut. 21. 10. When thou goest forth to war against thine Enemies I desire you to take notice that I speak only of it by way of Allusion and as a Type of this Thing When thou goest forth to war against thine Enemies and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands and thou hast taken them captive and thou seest among the captives a beautiful woman and hast a desire unto her that thou wouldest have her to thy Wife Then shalt thou bring her home unto thine house and she shall shave her Head and pare her Nails And she shall put off the Raiment of her Captivity from off her and shall remain in thine house and bewail
her and speak every way to her heart And then in the 19th Verse I 'll betroth thee unto me for ever Yea I 'll betroth thee unto me in Righteousness and in Judgment and in loving kindness and in mercies All this indeed hath a peculiar Relation to the Church of Israel But it is true of every Soul and of every Spirit that Christ speaks to and draws to love him as its Husband and Spouse He doth allure and speak to their Hearts He doth hedge up their way If God see that any of His love the World or Relations or any Thing better than himself He 'll hedge up their way They shall not find their way Thus you see there is a Time of Preparation wherein Christ is fitting and preparing and drawing the Soul to Himself 2. In the Second Particular I will enlarge a little further upon this Point of our Espousals and draw to a conclusion and therein shew you That we may all discern wherein and whereby the Soul is thus drawn to an Union with Jesus Christ to this Spiritual Union with him 1. In the first place It is by the Souls seeing and finding that it is in a miserable and a Lost and a Captivated condition without him When it comes to find it self in the Hands of Justice In the Hands of Divine Wrath and Indignation When it finds it self in all its Impurity and in all its Unholiness without Him it comes then to desire him to receive his offer to unite with him Now this is not onely by way as some it may be have insisted upon it by way of preparation but it runs throughout all the present State A true Christian is continually looking upon himself as a Captive It is not a thing of preparation onely But it flows out from the Efficacious Grace and Spirit of the Lord Jesus That every Soul that is thus united to Christ it finds it does not know what to do with it self without him Nor that it is onely drawn by fear but as I shall presently tell you tho very Briefly it is drawn by Love to him But I say because we are Captives because we are brought out of another Land a Land of Darkness a Land of Impurity a Land not suitable to the Land of Promise because we are brought out of that Therefore there must be a continual consideration of the necessity that lies upon us And it is not Derogatory to our Love of Christ or to the Grace of Christ that our first State being a Captivated State is known to us to be such a Captive State And therefore to be made Free by such Rich Grace as that the Great Prince and Lord of Life should have a desire to us that he should look upon that of his own Grace which is all the Beauty that is in any that God hath Loved them with an Everlasting Love the Beautiful Person is onely he that God hath from an Eternal free Love and Grace when we were all together lost and undone in our selves look'd upon and made his Time in the proper season of being brought home to him tho we are found in all our Impurities To be the Time of Love How great is it Now when any one of us is under this Grace of God Jesus Christ looks upon us He beholds the choice of God he beholds the Love of God upon us And such a one is as a Beautiful Person in his Eye And so he takes care to Shave the Head and to Pare the Nails and to change the Garments of Captivity and to bring him home to himself This I say it is not preparation Hammered out and Anvil'd by our own strength Povver or Consideration but it is a first Davvn of the Grace of Christ of the Love of Christ through the Election and Choice of God upon us Here is the very Beginning of the thing For as I read to you out of Ephes 5. Christ Loves the Church first of all and then he Sanctifies it and Washes it with the Water and with the Regeneration of his â—ord and of his Spirit He first of all Loves it Who Loved the Church and gave himself for it His Love is like the first Love of Espousals of drawing the Soul into a Condition and State of Espousals to himself And so he Sanctifies and Washes it with Water and Regenerates and Renews it and takes away the Prison-Garments the Captive-Garments Which it may be look Beautiful to those that are yet Ensnared They look upon all the Enjoyments and Pleasures of the World to be the greatest Bravery But now when Christ comes to shew them what their State is then they come to cry out at the first and so ever after as the Apostle Rom. 7. 24. O wretched Man that I am Who shalt deliver me from this Body of Death And you see he speaks of it in the very same Language ver 23. I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my mind and bringing me into Captivity to the Law of Sin which is in any Members It is a continuing sense on every Soul in Christ 2. The second thing wherein this is shewed It is in drawing the sincerest and Purest and Chastest Love of the Soul unto Jesus Christ When Christ by his Spirit in his word and by the Friend of the Bridegroom that is by the Preaching of the Word of Christ when he draws the entirest affections of Souls to himself Shewing his Love to them in the Pardon and Forgiveness of Sins he draws their hearts entirely and unitedly to himself He does therefore first of all as it were send the Soul the Wedding Garment of his own Righteousness He sends it a Robe a Vest from himself of his own Righteousness and of the sanctification of his own Spirit And this enkindles and enflames the Love of the Soul unto Jesus Christ The Apostle speaks in this Language in the 2 Cor. 11. 1. VVould to God you could bear with me a little c. For I am Jealous over you with a Godly Jealousie For I have Espoused you to one Husband that I may present you a chast Virgin to Christ The Preaching of the Gospel and the drawing of Souls it is the Espousal of them to one Husband and presenting them a Chast Virgin That is with undefiled and Inviolable affections to Jesus Christ When the Love of the Soul is thus drawn to him united to him The upright as I said to you before Love him And when once this Love of the Soul to Jesus Christ is indeed kindled where it is sincere and indeed kindled to him O how strong and how vehement is it It is true it is from the Love of Jesus Christ made known to it Even as you know Love draws and wins Love back again upon it self This is admirably set out to us in the eighth Chapter of the Song of Solomon Set me saith she as a Seal upon thine Heart as a Seal upon thine Arm. Let the Love
Good in himself yet it is plain and undeniable that there is a mighty wicked world every way round about Now if a Man truely Loves God and Christ the wickedness that abounds in the world and so over-flows it would make him desire that there should be another State of things Suppose he be a Man that Swears not why yet when he hears those Vollies of Oaths and Blasphemies that are every where about him And so in every other such Instance This is a reason for him to desire the Bridegroom should come Because there is such a wicked such an Intollerable wicked World God's heart cannot be to this wicked world tho Noah Job and Daniel and all the Great Worthies should stand before him for this world Yet his heart could not be to this world because of the abundance of wickednesses that are in it Separate from it the consideration of in Comparison the few Servants of God in it And Oh the abundance of wickedness that is in it and of wicked Men There was undoubtedly a succession of Holy Patriarchs to the Floud And undoubtedly they had many Godly Children and Godly Friends one with another And yet for all that God's Heart could not be to that Old World But he must needs destroy it And so God's Heart cannot be to this world That now is but he is resolved to burn it about the Ears of all the wicked that are in it And therefore because of this a Good Man tho he be never so Good and Suppose he have very Great and High Enjoyments of God in himself and suppose he hath many Godly Friends and Relations and Acquaintance that are really and truely Religious and Holy Persons yet for all this I cannot saith he endure this world Or for all that wherein I walk with God my self or wherein I have any or know any that walk with him After all this after all the Good that you can find or hope you can find in the world yet there are such an abundance of wicked in it that because of this his Zeal rises up to the coming of the Bridegroom and to the meeting of the Bridegroom He looks for and Hastens on to the Day of God because of this Now certainly this is a very undeniable Argument Who can take Pleasure Knowing that there are so many wicked Men Riding on Horseback To use that Expression of Solomon That there is in all places Employments Cities Towns and Neighbourhoods such great Ignorance of God and contempt of Him and Jesus Christ and such wicked Conversation a Good Man cannot be satisfied but he must desire the Coming of the Bridegroom Consider that Example we have in 2 Pet. 2. 7. God delivered Just Lot as the Criticks observe He was tormented after the manner of the Torments of Hell vexed with the filthy Conversation of the wicked For that righteous Man dwelling among them in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous Soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds or with their enormous deeds So I say when we consider the Great Enormities that are in the World who indeed that is a Christian but would say Oh that the Bridegroom would come and put an end to this Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesech that I dwell in the Tents of Kedar Arg. 2. In the Second Place Suppose that we could overcome and salve our selves of this Reason of Desiring the Bridegroom's Coming and might say notwithstanding this That we and our Houses serve God and that our Conversation is as becomes the Gospel and that we desire to converse with Saints and that we have an Heavenly Society upon Earrh I say suppose this could be said where there is not an High Sense of the Bridegroom 's Coming yet David says Horror hath taken hold upon me because they keep not thy Law It is time for the Lord to mork I wonder thou stayest so long for they have made void thy Law And Rivers of Tears run down mine eyes because they keep not thy Law All this I say plainly proves That if a man could salve the first Consideration to himself yet he cannot bear out himself on this Account O! when any of us come to look seriously into our own Hearts Lives and Ways can we say That we are what we desire to be and what vve vvould be Have vve such a Tenor of Thoughts such a constant Chain of Holy and Serious and Wise Thoughts Do we keep our Mouths with a Bit and Bridle while the wicked is before us Do we take care to speak always so That our Speech is seasoned with Salt and that it ministers Grace to the hearers Are our Hearts so in the Enjoyment of God and Communion with him That we may say It is Good for us to be here Or do we meet in such Ordinances Publickly Administred with such Power and Powerful Preaching Gospel Administrations The Lords Supper Keeping and Observing the Lords Day as we desire Do we find that there is so much in these That we can our selves say we have Reason to rest here or to continue in this State Or do we not find a continual complaint Like that of Paul Rom. 7. The Good that I would I do not But the Evil which I would not that I do I find then a Law that when I would do Good Evil is present with me And so in Verse 24. He comes to cry out O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death If this World could stand Yet This Body of Sin and Death is such that I could wish it were at an End Who shall rescue and unchain me from this Body wherein I am Fettered and Held that I cannot do the things that I desire to do to the Glory of God in it So that there is a Chain upon our Minds and Hearts That the very consideration of it should make us earnestly desire the coming of the Bridegroom 3. A Third Consideration Suppose now neither of these Reasons sufficient why we should desire the coming of the Bridegroom Yet I beseech you consider whether the Glory of Christ be not a proper and Condign Object of our desires Whether it be worthy of him that he should have no higher nor more Glorious State in this World than he yet hath Can you be content that the Nations should be given to Idolatry or Mahometanism among the Turks Would you be willing the Papists should have so great a part of the Christian World still under their Darkness and Superstition Would you be willing that so many Tyrants as have and so many as are ready still to do it should be Riding over the Heads of the Saints and Servants of God and that his Worship should be cast down to the Ground And that the Sanctuary should be Trodden underfoot by the Gentiles And that the Abomination of Desolation should stand where it ought not Could any Man that Loves the Glory of God and the Glory of Christ be content
Express Scripture End Three Years and Half or Half a Week from the Death of Christ And then we know a Time there must be from the Beginning of the 1260 of some distance of Space from the End of the Weeks Because from the Three Years and Half after the Death of Christ so many more Years then 1260 are now passed and yet the Great Events at the End of the 1260 not yet come to pass and therefore not the 1260 themselves And yet that space must take hold of the End of the Weeks Because the Half Week Ends a Three Years and a Half Half a Week from the Death of Christ The Seventy Weeks Notwithstanding They are divided into Joynts yet are as close as the Joynted parts of any the same Member of the Body being together the Seventy Weeks The Seventy Weeks lay an Indisputed Claim to whatever Time went before to Cyrus And every part must be Joyned Each to other Because all the several Portions of Time stand United in the 2300 And seeing so much Time hath already passed since the End of the Weeks as leaves no more then 75 before the Weeks of the 2300 to Cyrus we are sure there can be no more I confess there may be Fewer and so more of the 1260 to Run out then to 97 But so far as we can be sure there can be no more than 400 before the 1335. We may be sure there can be no Fewer than 75 before the Weeks From Cyrus backward must be the 40 of Judah's Sin Born Lying Close to the End of the 390 Days of Israel's Sin Born which Bring back to the Division of the Tribes into the Two Houses of Israel and Judah All which Things have been and are Ready to be Fully made out to any who Desire it in particular The Undoubted Emblems of Scripture Answering to these Numbers of Time may be Accounted for with the same Evidence in this Retrospective Motion as in the Progression For the very End of the Wonders is plac'd in the Beast and the False Prophet cast alive into the Lake And the Glory of Christ's Appearance and the Armies of Heaven for whom Thrones were Set and They Sate upon Them and They Lived and Reigned with Christ a Thousand Years were such as did not Worship the Beast nor Receive his Mark c. The Vials that Brought in the Thousand Years are Noted to Fall on the Beast and them that Worshipp'd the Beast and had Receiv'd his Mark The Voices that prepar'd for the Vials and at the End of which the Vials Began were also upon the Beast and the Witnesses coming out of the Death the Beast had laid them under plainly Entwist the Vials and the Voices with the Beast and the Witnesses and so their Times one with another viz. with the 1260 Days the 42 Moons the Times and Days and Half And in this same manner the Dragon and they that were Beheaded for the Word of God and for the Testimony of Jesus and the Dragon cast down and the Martyrs of Christ Overcoming by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of his Testimony and not Loving their Lives unto Death Seeing the Dragon Gave his Power and his Seat unto the Beast shew very Evidently that the Moons of the Gentiles and of the Beast Began at the End of the Seals Even as it is most clear in a Progressive Motion the Seals Issue into the Trumpets by the Seventh Seal conveying to them The Trumpets into the Voices by the Seventh Trumpet the Voices by the Seventh Voice into â—he Vials the Vials by the Seventh Vial into the Thousand Years The Seals Run plainly Back into the Weeks Beginning in the Confirmation of the Covenant by that Preaching of the Gospel by the Apostles Emblem'd by Christ Riding out on his White Horse conquering and to conquer at the Ending of the Weeks The Weeks Run back into the Time of the Word Going forth for the Restoring Judah and Jerusalem from whence they are Dated The Going forth of the Word into the Babylonish Captivity which gave Occasion to the going forth of that Word and the Last Forty Years of the Babylonish Captivity which was the Ground of Bearing the Iniquity or Punishment of the House of Judah clasps Fast with the 390 of Bearing Israel's Sin because God commanded Ezekiel when He bad Born the sin of Israel on the Left side without any Intermission to Turn on the Other side and to Bear the sin of the House of Judah on the Right side and the Bearing the Sin of the House of Israel goes back to the Division of the Tribes into Two Houses at Solomon's Death In the Last Place I dare Appeal to the Greatest Chronologers or Historians whether our General Accounts do not within some Fair Proportion Allow the Years of the Papacy of the Pagan Power of the Roman Empire of the Grecian Persian Babylonish Kingdoms to serve these Prophetical Accounts and so backward by the Kings of Israel and Judah to the Death of Solomon Now all these Things were there Room to Represent Them clearly particularly and in Full would Give such certainty in these Points according to the Exactness of Scripture-Time as would amount to the Justification of the Great Hope I so publickly make Offer of and against which in every minute Particular I Humbly Pledge my self to be Ready to Receive Exceptions and to Return Due Satisfaction and therefore shall now Return to the more General Objections This way of Endeavour to Justify every Thing by Plain Accounts and Arguments of Reason Approachable by every Ones Reason and Subject to the Examination of every Man whoever will take so much Thought and Care of Tryal and Just Judgment upon Himself may take off much of that Exception Why should All This be Reveal'd to you more than to Any Other For The Answer I would give is Because God hath engaged my Heart and Thoughts to this Inquiry And it hath been the Principal Subject of my Intellectual Inquiries though I hope not in a Neglect of other Points of Theology and Scripture-Knowledge But by this means I have been looking every way into All the Advertisements of Scripture-Prophecy comparing Prophetical Things with Prophetical and any of the most Accurate Memoirs of History and Chronology I could Arrain And This is no other than what Any Other Studious in these Things might have Attained and much Higher according to the Advantages of Learning more enlarged Capacities of Mind Clearness of Expression as is most experimental in that Excellent Person The Annotator on the Revelation and his Annotations Published about Four Years ago The Only Thing that I pretend to of Peculiar Favour herein from the Most High is That he hath thus engaged my Heart and Thoughts to separate my self and to Intermeddle with this Wisdom and Assisted me so far therein When any one vouches any Immediate Revelation that cannot be disprov'd by its plain Disagreeableness to other Sealed Parts of Divine Revelation though