the Law required Death was due and death immediately upon the offence but death was kept off by the interposition of the Mediator and this which is less than death inflicted at present The Mediator or Days-man interposed before this sentence for the promise of the Seed which should bruise the Serpents head preceded the pronouncing of this sentence Gen. 3.15 16. God arms himself against both but not with those weapons they had deserv'd Capital Crimes are usually attended with capital punishments which draw a destruction upon the offender Where death is deserv'd and a lighter punishment inflicted it is rather an act of clemency than strict Justice and may be called by the name of a partial pardon or reprieve as well as a punishment 'T is indeed a punishment when Conscience racks a man with further expectation of torment when it is but a Prologue to everlasting burnings when through those pains any fall into the place of everlasting horrour 'T is then more properly a punishment when it proceeds from an irreconcileable Justice arm'd with Omnipotency in the Execution not when it proceeds from an anger mix'd with mildness and mitigated by the Intercessions of a Mediator 2. 'T is not a reparation of the injury done to God One reason of the institution of punishment is to repair the damage the Person offended sustains by the malefactor as far as he is capable The injury done to God cannot be repaired by any temporary punishment No nor indeed actually by an eternal one though an eternal suffering is all the reparation a finite Creature is capable to make to the honour of God A man is capable of making some kind of amends to his Neighbour for an offence done but God being infinitely our Superiour cannot have his honour repaired by any thing a Creature can do or suffer 3. 'T is not continued as a part of Satisfaction to the justice of God As though Christ needed the sufferings of the Creature to make up the sum which he was to pay for us and which he hath already paid 'T is not on the account of the death of Christ purely a vindictive but a medicinal act to a believer 'T is rather to awaken us than to Satisfy justice As we wring a man by the nose who is fallen into a swoon not to have satisfaction from him for any injury he may have done us but to fetch him out of his fit These punishments are to awaken men to a sight of their first sin 4. The proper impulsive cause of punishment is wrath Though this was the first cause of this sentence yet it is not inflicted in wrath upon a believer Though at first it was an effect of Gods anger yet in a beliver it is a fruit of Gods fatherly anger wherein he acts with a composition of Judge Father In inflicting it he preserves the authority of a Judge In preserving under it and pardoning the sin for which it was inflicted he evidenceth the affection of a Father Punishment as such is only to hurt and make men reap the fruit of their iniquity But the end of affliction in the intention of the person that doth afflict is oftentimes to benefit 2. Yet it is in some sort a punishment and something more than an affliction 1. In respect of the meritorious cause sin This is not inflicted ratione absoluti dominii but ratione meriti 'T is not an act of absolute soveraignty but a judicial legal act upon the demerit of sin There are some afflictions which are not punishments as in the case of the man that was born blind Christ tells us that it was neither for his own sin nor for the sins of his parents but that God might be glorified John 9.2.3 i. e. God in inflicting that blindness respected neither the sin of the man nor the sin of the parents but the making him a passive subject of his glory in our Saviours miraculous Cure But in this case God respected the sin of the woman as the cause and reason of the punishment 2. Because if man had stood in innocency neither this grief nor indeed any other had been The birth in innocency would have been without sorrow and grief as the hunger and thirst which would have been in Adam in that state would have been without that gnawing in the stomack and that pain which we find in those defects because a state of integrity and perfect righteousness must needs be without grief But after the fall all those pains incident to man or woman are fruits of the curse of sin 3. This punishment doth not hinder Salvation though it be continued I shall lay down these Propositions to clear up this matter 1. God intended not in the acceptance of Christs mediation to remove in this life all the punishments denounced after the fall God takes away the eternal but not the temporal For this very punishment was threatned after his acceptance of Christs mediation and after the compact and covenant between the Father and the Son about their redemption of mankind because the promise preceded the threatning and the mediatory covenant preceded the promise Some parts of Christs purchase are only payable in another life and some fruits of Redemption God intends for growth only in another soyl such are Freedom from pain diseases death sin And therefore the last day when believers shall be gather'd together is called by way of excellency the day of Redemption Eph. 4.30 as if we had nothing of Redemption properly in this life because we have it not compleat And it is called upon this account the time of refreshing and the time of the restitution of all things Act. 3.19 21. when all things shall be restored to their primitive compleatness and we shall have a full refreshment by a removal of all the evils which we suffer by reason of sin So that the satisfaction made by Christ extends not to a present removal of all the effects of the curse pains of the body death of relations c. The ground is not restored to its original vigor and fruitfulness man must still eat his bread in the sweat of his brows women must still bring forth with sorrow our lives must waste by a continual invasion of weaknesses and diseases we must drop one after another into the grave send some before us and leave others to come after us tho God in mercy doth mitigate these in some more in some less according to his Soveraign pleasure and though those curses do materially continue yet they are attended with a blessing the fruits of Christs purchase But the full value of Christs satisfaction will appear when there shall be a new Heaven a new Earth when the day of Redemption shall dawn and all tears be wiped from believers eyes But God never promised the total removal of them in this life to any Saint no though he should have all the Faith and Holiness of all the Catalogue of Saints in the book of
only Object of God's hatred while this remains his Holiness cannot but hate us when this is removed his righteousness cannot but love us remission and favour are inseparable and can never be dis-joyned 'T is by this he makes us as a Diadem upon his Head a Bracelet on his Arm it is by this he writes us upon the Palms of his Hands makes us his peculiar Treasure even as the Apple of his Eye which Nature hath so carefully fenced 2. Access to God A Prince may discard a Favourite for some guilt and though he may restore him to his liberty in the Common-wealth yet he may not admit him to the favour of his wonted privacies But a pardoned man hath an access to God to a standing and perpetually settled Grace Rom. 5.1 2. Being justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also we have access Guilt frights us and makes us loath the very sight of God Pardon encourageth us to come near to him Guilt respects him as a Judge Pardon as a Friend Who can confidently or hopefully call upon an angry and condemning God But who cannot but hopefully call upon a forgiving God Sin is the partition wall between God and us and Pardon is the demolishing of it Forgiveness is never bestowed but the Scepter is held out to invite us to come into God's presence And what can be more desirable than to have not only the favour of but a free access at any time to the Lord of Heaven and Earth and at length an everlasting being with him 3. Peace of Conscience There must needs be fair Weather when Heaven smiles upon us All other things breed disquietness Sin was a Thorn in David's Crown his Throne and Scepter were but miserable comforters while his guilt overwhelmed him The glory of the World is no soveraign Plaister for a wounded Spirit Other enjoyments may please the sense but this only can gratifie the Soul God's Thunder made Moses tremble Heb. 12.21 But the probability of a gracious Pardon would make a damned Soul smile in the midst of tormenting flames How often hath the sense of it raised the hearts of Martyrs and made the Sufferers sing while the Spectators wept Though this I must confess is not always an inseparable concomitant There is much difference between a Pardon and the comfort of it that may pass the Seal of the King without the knowledge of the Malefactor Pardon indeed always gives the jus ad rem a right to peace of Conscience but not always jus in re the possession of it There may be an actual separation between Pardon and actual Peace but not between Pardon and the ground of Peace 4. It sweetens all mercies Other mercies are a ring but pardon is the Diamond in it A justified person may say I have temporal mercies and a pardon too I live in repute in the world and Gods favour too riches increase and my peace with God doth not diminish I have health with a pardon friends with a pardon as Job ch 29.3 6 7. among all other blessings this he counts the chiefest that Gods Candle shin'd upon his head A Prisoner for some capital crime may have all outward accommodations for lodging dyet attendance without a real happiness when he expects to be called to his tryal before a severe judge from whom there is no appeal and that will certainly both pass and cause to be executed a sentence of death upon him So though a man wallows in all outward contents he cannot write himself blessed while the wrath of God hangs over his head and he knows not how soon he may be summon'd before Gods tribunal and hear that terrible voice Go thou cursed What comfort can a man take in Houses Land Health when he considers he owes more than all his estate is worth So what comfort can a man have in any thing in this world when he may hourly expect an arrest from God and a demand of all his debts and he hath not so much as one farthing of his own or any interest in a sufficient surety We may have honour and a curse wealth and a curse Children and a curse health and long life and a curse learning and a curse but we can never have pardon and a curse Our outward things may be gifts but not blessings without a pardon 5. It sweetens all afflictions A frown with a pardon is better than a thousand smiles without it Sin is the sting of crosses and Remission is a taking the sting out of them A sight of Heaven will mitigate a cross on earth The stones about Stephens ears did scarce afflict him when he saw his Saviour open Heaven to entertain him To see death staring us in the face and an angry and offended God above ready to charge all our guilt is a doleful spectacle Look upon my affliction and my pain and forgive all my sins saith the Psalmist Psal 25.18 Sin doth embitter and adds weight to an affliction but the removal of sin doth both lighten it and sweeten it USE 1. An unpardoned man is a miserable man Such a state lays you open to all the miseries on earth and all the torments in Hell The poorest begger with a pardon is higher than the greatest prince without it How can we enjoy a quiet hour if our debt be not remitted since we owe more than we are able to pay You may dye with a forfeited reputation and yet be happy but what happiness if you die with unpardoned guilt 1. There must either be pardon or punishment The law doth oblige either to obedience or suffering the Commands of it must be observed or the penalty indured God will not relax the punishment without a valuable consideration If it be not executed the creature may accuse God of want of wisdom in enacting it or defect of power in maintaining it Therefore there must be an exact observance of the law which no creature after the first deviation is able to do or an undergoing the penalty of it which no Sinner is able to bear There must therefore be a remission of this punishment for the good of the creature and the Satisfaction of the law by a surety for the honour of Gods justice If we have not therefore an interest in the surety the purchaser of remission we must lye under the severity of the law in our persons 2. You can call nothing an act of Gods Love towards you while you remain unpardoned What is there you do enjoy which may not consist with his hatred as well as his Love Have we knowledge So have Devils Have we riches So had Nabal and Cain Have we honour So had Pharaoh and Herod Have we Sermons So had Judas the best that ever were preacht Nothing nothing but a pardon is properly a blessing How can that man take pleasure in any thing he hath when all the threatnings in the book of God are as so many arrows directed
hand that catches up Christ the Man-child into Heaven that hand that sets him upon the Throne of God provides meat for the Woman in the wilderness The head and the body have the same Defender the same Protector the same hand to secure them * Ribera in loc Or by Man-child is meant the whole number of the Believers which were more numerous before she went into a wilderness-condition the Scripture using often the singular for the plural and the Holy Ghost expressing himself here according to the property of the Woman which is to bring forth one at the same time The Figure of the Church notes stability 't is four-square and the length is as large as the breadth Rev. 21.16 The length breadth and height of it are equal the most perfect Figure noting perfection and duration So it was described in the Prophecy Ezek. 48.16 exactly 4500 measures on each side All belonging to this City or Church is reckoned by the number twelve a square number equal on all sides twelve Gates twelve Foundations twelve Tribes of Israel twelve Apostles twelve Stones to garnish it Revel 21.12 13 14 c. A foursquare Figure is an emblem of unchangeable constancy Things so framed remain alwaies in the same posture cast them which way you will and among some of the Heathens was reckoned as a divine figure * The Arcadians made Jovis signum quadrangulum Pausanias de Arcadicis and the character of virtuous man in regard of his constancy was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The shutting of the gate of the new Temple Ezek. 44.2 after the God of Israel had entred in by it is interpreted by some of the everlasting dwelling of the Lord in the Church of the Gospel among his people and never departing from it as he had done from the first Temple †Lightfort Temple cap. 38. p. 252. None shall enter in to deface it none shall prescribe new laws to it none shall trample upon it when God enters into the Christian Church he shuts the door after him his presence never departs from it his Gospel shall never be rooted out of it the Church hath a security in its foundation as being built upon a rock Mat. 18.16 It hath an assurance of preservation by the presence of the God of Israel of Christ in the midst of her Mat. 28.19 20. The tabernacle of Sion shall not be taken down not one of the stakes thereof shall be remov'd neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken And that because the glorious Lord shall be a place of broad rivers and streams to it Isa 33.20 21. The enemies of the Church shall be consum'd that God may have his due praise Hallelujahs are never sung with the highest note till the wicked Idolatrous generation be rooted out of the earth Hallelujahs were never used as the Jews observe till the consummation of all things by the setting the Church above the tossing of the waves and the destruction of its troublers when the glory of the Lord should endure for ever and God rejoyce in his works Psal 104.31 35. And therefore when the blood of his children is avenged by his Justice upon his enemies and the smoke of Antichrist riseth up before him and the Kingdom of God is for ever setled Hallelujah is pronounced and repeated with a loud voice Rev. 19.2 3 6. Such a time will be and God will establish and secure his Church till he hath perfected his own and her glory This stability the Church hath had experience of in all ages of the world and it will always be said in her Psal 48.8 As we have heard so have we seen in the City of the Lord of hosts in the City of our God God will establish it for ever In the handling this Doctrine these four things are to be done 1. The Explication 2. The Proof that it is so 3. Why it must needs be so 4. Vse 1. Explication 1. This stability must not be meant of any particular Church in the world Particular Churches have their beginnings progresses and periods many Churches as well as many persons have apostatized from the faith many Candlesticks have been broken in pieces and yet the candle not blown out but remov'd and set in another socket particular Churches have been corrupted by Superstition and Idolatry rent by Heresies and scattered by Persecutions What remains are there of those seven Churches in Asia which were the walk of Christ Revel 2.1 but deplorable ruines There is no absolute promise given to any particular Church that it shall be free from defection The Church of Rome so flourishing in the Apostles time was warn'd to be humble lest it became as much Apostate as that of the Jews Rom. 11.21 22. Nay there are predictions of almost an universal apostacy All the world wondred after the Beast Rev. 13.3 and worshiped him v. 8. And just before the coming of Christ it will be difficult to find a grain of faith among the multitude of Chaff Luk. 18.8 There is not one place which was in the primitive times dignified with truth but is now deformed by error Yea the universal Church hath been forced by the fury of the Dragon though not to sink yet to fly into the wilderness obscurity yet hath been preserv'd through all changes in the midst of those desolations deserts 'T is not indeed so fixed in one place but the cords may be taken up the stakes removed and the tents pitched in another ground 'T is spread through the world wherever God will set up the light of his Gospel Sion hath stood though some Synagogues of it have been pulled down it hath like the Sun kept its station in the Firmament though not without eclipses and clouds to muffle it The Church is but one though it be in divers Countries and nam'd according to the places where it resides as the Church of Ephesus the Church of Sardis c. which all are as the beams of the Sun darted from one body branches growing from one root streams flowing from one fountain if you obstruct the light of one beam or lop off one branch or dam up the stream yet the Sun Root Fountain remains the same So though the light of particular Churches may be dim and extinguisht the beauty of them defaced yet the universal Church that which is properly Sion remains the same it remains upon Christ the rock and is still upon the baâ—s of the covenant 't is still Gods Church and God is her God When a people have forfeited their Church priviledges by barrenness and wantonness and God in justice strips them of their Ornaments he will have another people which he will form for his glory and fit for his residence the Gospel shall never want an host to entertain it nor a ground to be made fruitful by it * Mat. 21.43 The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a Nation bringing forth the fruits
God's glory and the setling Sion's security Had not Pharaoh been so furious God had not manifested the glory of his Power nor his Israel enjoyed so miraculous a safety 'T is true the Church is weak but the Arm that holds her is the strongest in Heaven and Earth Her outward Interest is small but her Interest is twisted with that of her Lord. An Enemy shall find more mischief from mud-walls under the protection of a valiant Arm than from stone-walls under the guard of an Infant How foolish is it for a man to think to break a Rock with his fist for hurting his shins whereby he bruiseth his hands as well as his leggs How foolish is it for men to beat the bushes about a Lions Den whereby they will be sure to rouse him God dwells in Sion from thence he roars to the shaking of Heaven and Earth the Powers of the world when he will manifest himself to be the hope of his People and the strength of the Children of Israel Joel 3.16 4. What a ground is here for prayer This sets an edg upon prayer No petition can more comfortably no petition can more confidently be put up than for Sions establishment Prayers for particular Persons or for our selves may want success but supplications for Sion never miscarry they have the same Foundation for an answer that Sion hath for her stability viz. The promise of God they are agreeable to that affection which shall never be removed from her How believingly may we cry out Be it unto Sion according to thy word There is no fear of a repulse whatsoever God denies he will not deny that for which he hath so often ingaged himself It may be for the good of the Church that so great a person as Paul should lye in Chains and his Fetters conduce to the furtherance of the Gospel Phil. 1.12 But it can never be for the Interest of Sion or for the Interest of Sion's God that she should be crusht between the teeth of the Lions and that which he hath redeemed by the blood of his Son be a prey to the Jaws of the Devil God hath entitled Sion by the name of a City not forsaken Isa 62.12 And as we have his promise for her settlement so we have his command for our earnestness vers 7. And give him no rest till he doth establish Jerusalem a praise in the whole Earth And he prescribes us to back that by our prayers which he had promis'd v. 1. For Jerusalem's sake I will not rest till the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness Our desires in this case are suited to his resolves and run in the same line with his immutable Decree he will have no rest in himself nor he would have no rest from us till this be accomplisht We cannot call upon God with a greater confidence for any thing than for that Church that shall out-live the Funeral of the world and survive the frame of Nature that shall lie in Ashes 5. What a strong ground is here for trust Look not so much upon the condition of Sion's Walls as upon her Foundation not upon her present posture as upon her promise-Charter not upon her as a weak Vine but under the hand of the Highest as the Vine-dresser look not upon the feebleness of the Flock but upon the care of the Shepherd nor upon the fierceness of the Lions but upon the strength and affection of her Guardian 1. Let not our Faith rest upon appearances Flesh will then make a wrong Judgment of God Providences are various and should our Faith be guided only by them it would have a liveliness one moment and faint the next As the Promise is the stability of the Church so it is only the stability of our Faith The Authority of the Word is the Life of our Faith and not the sense of any particular Providence in the world A Faith built upon protecting Providences is a sensitive Faith a Faith built upon the Promise is a spiritual Faith 2. Yet the Experiences God hath given us hitherto of the continuance of the Church may be called in to bear witness to the Truth of the Promise He hath before conducted his Israel into Canaan when Pharaoh meditated their utter ruine or their continuance under his Chains he fed them with Manna and watered them with a Rock in a desert that afforded no earthly assistance The preserving the Vine could never be ascribed to the Vine it self in which there is no strength nor to the Foxes in whom there is no pitty but to the keeper of the vineyard We have reason therefore to trust God but not at all to trust man Is it from man or from God that the Church hath subsisted so long in the world a little flock in the midst of many Wolves among enemies more numerous than her friends What a small number hath the Church had in any age to mate the multitude of her enemies what wisdom to countermine their policy and what power to repel their force The Church is not weaker now than it hath been the Sons of Sion were always Sheep Sheep have not the strength of Lyons to resist nor the swiftness of Eagles to fly away from danger the danger cannot be greater than it hath been there were always Dragons that spat out their venom and Lyons that opened their mouths against her the Devil never wanted diligence nor the world enmity to overturn her could she for one moment have subsisted in the midst of so many furies had not God been her shield and glory Call to mind how often God hath healed her diseases and bound up her wounds Let us rest in that promise which hath so often been made good by his power which he hath in many ages displayed upon as great occasions of danger as Sion can be in Let us live believingly under his wings and fear not our own weakness or our enemies strength 3. We have greater ground of confidence than the Church of Israel had In the day of Israels trouble by Salmanasser the Prophet comforts the Church in her anguish by the consideration of the Messiah who was to assume the Government though many years after Isa 8.22 Isa 9.1 6. Shall a promise that was to stay so many ages for performance be a ground of trust and confidence to a tottering Church then And shall not the staggering Church have more ground to rest since the Messiah is made the head of the Corner and hath the Keys of Hell and death delivered to him What a base thing is distrust then against so many assurances of stability and the experience of a multitude of ages Grasp the promise plead it earnestly shew God his written word which he hath sent from Heaven he never yet disowned it nor ever will Methinks the voice God is able to deliver Sion sounds too much of distrust If we know no more than Gods power we know not so much as the Devil doth he knows his
Deck and her visible Pilots flung over-board into the Sea and shall she sink when she is not far from an entrance into the Harbour She hath been a Brand pluckt out of the fire Zach. 3.2 She was pluckt out of the Furnace of Babylon and shall be pluckt out of the Furnace of Mystical Babylon Though she should be mown down as Grass by the Sythe of her Enemies yet the presence of Christ shall be as Rain upon her to make her sprout and spread after all her Afflictions Psal 72.6 Though she hath been in the midst of the Fire she never yet was nor ever will be consumed She hath had joy in her disgraces and greatness by her flames She hath alwaies had a God to inspire her with vigor to sustain her weakness and prop her by his Arm and hath often swam to a safe Harbour in a Tyde of her own Blood Is not that God still a sufficient Defence and the Promise a sufficient Charter against the Violence of the world The Highest himself shall establish her Himself by his own Arm and Himself by his own Methods 3. Here is Comfort in the deepest designs of her Enemies The Highest himself shall establish her If he be the Highest and imploys himself as the Highest there is none so high as to over-top him none so high as to out-wit him Though their Union be never so close and their Projects never so deep yet God's being with the Church is curb enough for them and comfort enough for Sion Isa 8.9 Associate your selves together O ye people c. Take counsel together and it shall come to naught speak the word and it shall not stand for God is with us God's presence with Sion blows away all God was with the Ark in its captivity and made it victorious in its Chains It cripled Dagon the Philistins Idol 1 Sam. 5.4 and made them return it to their disgrace which they thought they had seiz'd upon to their honour While God is a strength to the poor the branch of the terrible shall be brought low and their blast be but as a storm against a wall Isa 25.4 5. He can hasten their ruine by their own subtilty and catch them in their own Net Psal 35.8 Or he can turn them to glorifie the Church as much as they hindred her Isa 25.3 They are sometimes compared to Bees Psal 118.12 Isa 7.18 and the can make them afford honey as well as a sting They are Bees for their wrath and Bees for their weakness and many times Bees for her profit Sometimes he makes the House of Jacob as fire the House of Esau as stubble before him Obad. 18. 'T is not more natural to the Serpents Seed to spite the Church than it is natural to God to protect her their malice cannot engage them so much in Attempts against her as God's Promise engageth him in the defence of her What can weakness do against strength folly against wisdom Hell against Heaven and a fallen Lucifer against the highest God 4. Here is comfort to expect the glory of the Church The Highest himself shall establish her The Mountain of the Lords House shall be lifted up on the top of the Mountains Isa 2.2 In the last days it shall be more glorious than any Mountain dignified by God Above Mount Sinai where the Law was given the terrestial Mount Sion where the Temple was built Mount Moriah where Abraham had a type of the Death and Resurrection of Christ Mount Horeb where Moses by prayer discomfited Amalek and Mount Pisgah where Moses had a prospect of Canaan Abraham's Conquest of the four Kings Gen. 14. seems to be a figure of the Churches Victories when the captive Lots should be rescued and Sodom it self be something better for Sion Then shall Christ meet her as King of Salem King of Peace with the blessings of the most High God Then shall he as he did at the Feast in Cana turn the Churches Water into Wine Idols shall be utterly abolisht Isa 2.18 Dross and mixtures in Doctrine and Worship purged out Rev. 22.1 The River of the water of life shall be as clear as Crystal proceeding from the Throne of God and of the Lamb. The everlasting Gospel preached Rev. 14.6 called everlasting because it shall never more be clouded and obscured by the foolish Inventions of men there shall be no more Sea Rev. 21.1 The troubles of Sion signified by a stormy Sea shall cease and a new Heaven and a new Earth be created there shall be multitude of conversions Rev. 11.15 The Kingdoms of the world shall become the Kingdoms of Christ The breath of the Lord shall come into many and make them stand upon their feet Ezek. 37.9 10. There shall be a greater presence of God in Ordinances for the Earth shall shine with his glory Ezek. 43.2 Holiness shall sparkle in her for the glory of the Lord shall be upon her Rev. 21.11 His holiness to purifie her and his power to protect her Persecutions without and divisions within shall cease Satan shall be bound his force restrained he shall not wander about with his cloven-foot Rev. 20.3 The Sea of Glass which was mingled with fire with the fire of worldly Persecutions with the fire of intestine Animosities shall be as clear as Crystal Rev. 15.2 Rev. 22.1 He will then have Magistrates no longer carrying on the Interest of the God of this world but the Interest of the Church whom he calls his Princes Ezek. 45.8 His because set up by a more immediate Providence His because acting designedly and intentionally for his glory no more pinching his People and making a prey of his Sion but laying down their Crowns at the foot of his Throne And to compleat all there shall be a perpetuity in this spiritual prosperity only between the beginning and compleating it Satan shall be let loose But for a little season Rev. 20.3 and after this it shall not have one blow more from Hell but the Devil must for ever give over nibbling at her heel Now the Church never yet found such a state suitable to those promises and predictions some great thing remains to be accomplisht which the world hath not yet seen nor the Church experienced But that Truth that will not lye that Truth which cannot lye has assured it The Mystery of God shall be finished Rev. 10.7 The Church hath hitherto been gasping in the fire and in the water she has liv'd but as wrapt in a winding-sheet the Saints under the Altar have cryed a long time for the vengeance of the Temple to recompence their blood There is a time when this Lazarus that hath lain begging at the door of the rich and mighty shall be mounted up to a better state Sion shall enjoy a Resurrection and fling off all badges of a Funeral For the Highest himself shall establish her Third Vse of Exhortation 1. Take heed of Apostatizing from Sion from the Doctrine and Worship of Sion If
erected his stately head to seise upon the prey then God wounded him put an end to Aegypts pride and the Israelites fear He loves to beat down the pride of the one and raise up the lowliness of the other When Herod will assume the title of a God given him by the acclamations of the People an Angel shall immediately make him a Banquet for Worms Acts 11.22 23. When Sennacherib had prospered in his Conquest of Judea had taken many strong Towns closely be leaguered Jerusalem thundred out blasphemies against God and threatnings against his People then comes an Angel makes an horrible slaughter in a night sends him back to his own Country where after the loss of his Army he lost his life by the hands of his own children A greater pride cannot be exprest than what the Apostle predicts of the Man of Sin and that hath been extant for some time in the world * 2 Thes 2.4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God in additions to the word clipping the Institutions of God and adding new and canonizing new Mediators of Intercession who sits in the Temple of God in a profession of Christianity shewing himself that he is God assuming the name of God and the title of God in being called most holy And perhaps it will yet amount to a higher step than it hath yet done before he be consumed by the brightness of the Lord 's coming since all that yet lets and hinders is not taken out of the way The higher the pride the nearer the fall When Goliah shall defie the God of Israel a stone from a sling thrown by the hand of David our great David the Antitype shall lay him vomiting out his soul and blasphemies on the Earth We are many times more beholding to the Enemies insolence than our own innocence Deut. 32.17 Were it not that God feared the wrath of the Enemy i. e in their pride lest their Adversaries should behave themselves strangely and say Our hand is high a sinful Israel should not have so many preservations * Trap on Exod. p. 9. When they will ascend into Heaven and exalt their Throne above the Stars of God when they will ascend above the heights of the Clouds and be like the most High then shall they be brought down to Hell to the sides of the Pit Isa 7.13 14 15. The highest Towers are the fairest marks for Thunder and the readiest Tinder for the lightning of Heaven When Tyrus had set her heart as the heart of God then would God defile her brightness and make her die the death of them that are slain in the midst of the Sea Ezek. 28.6 7 8. 3. Eager malice Nothing would Satisfie the Aegyptians here but the bloud of the Israelites My hand shall destroy them they were under a cruel bondage attended with anguish of Spirit before God began their rescue The serpents seed have the same principles of craft and malice sown in their nature that are resident in his ever since the beginning he endeavoured to shape men into the same form and temper with himself Their rage would raze out the very foundation of Israel and not suffer the name to be had any more in remembrance Psa 83.4 They love to be drunk with the blood of the saints and are no more satisfied with blood than the grave with carcases they repair their arrows and watch for an opportunity to discharge them and never want poison but opportunity this is Gods time to deliver When Pharaoh would pollute the land with the blood of the Hebrew males and ordain them to be drag'd from the womb to the slaughter then God raises up himself to attempt the rescue of Israel yet he bears with his insolence punisheth him but not destroys him But when he would be still stiff against a sense of the multitude of plagues and a greater mercy of patience in them when he would arm for the field against that God the smart of whose force he had felt and resolves to destroy or bring back the Israelites upon the point of his Sword God would then bear no longer but make the water his sepulchre When Haman designs the ruine of the Jews procures the Kings commission sends dispatches to all the governours of the Provinces sets up a gibbet for Mordecai and wants nothing but an opportunity to request the Execution he tumbles down to exchange his princes favours for an exaltation on the Gallows Est 6.4 Est 7.10 When the Serpent encreased his malitious cruelty and cast out a flood against the Church God makes the earth the carnal world to give her assistance and repel the force that Satan used against her * Rev. 12.15 16. The earâ—h helped the woman When multitudes shall gather together in the valley of decision then shall the Lord roar out of Sion and be the hope of his People and the strength of the Children of Israel Joel 3.14.16 And when Spiritual Aegypt shall make a war against Christ who sits upon the white horse and combine all their force for the destruction of his people then shall the Beast and the false Prophet be taken and brought to their final ruine and their force be broken in a lake of fire as that of Aegypt was in a Sea of water Rev. 19.19 20. The time of their greatest fierceness shall be the time of Christs fury he will strike them sorest when he finds them cruellest their rage shall rouze up his revenge when the men of Sodom to which the Antichristian state is likened shall be resolutely bent to wickedness they shall be struck with blindness and that blindness suceeded by destruction then will God set bounds to the outragious waves and snatch the prey out of the teeth of the Lyons 4. Confident security I will divide the Spoil my lust shall be satisfied upon them God lets the enemy come in like a floud and torrent with a confidence to carry all before him before he lifts up a standard against him Isa 59.19 Then shall the Spirit of the Lord stir up himself gloriously in the principles and actions of his people and the redeemer shall come to Sion God will set his force against their confidence break their impetuousness by his own power When the Enemies of the Church think they have intangled it in such a snare reduc'd it to so low a condition as to be secure of her ruine with a blast and puff then God will arise and set her in safety from them that puff at her Psa 12.5 This will be the case of Babylon when she shall say I sit as a Queen and am no Widdow and shall see no sorrow then shall her plagues come in one day death and mourning and famine for then God will stir up his strength to Judge her Rev. 18.7 'T is in the time of the Antichristian Polity and mutual congratulations with the highest security for their happy success triumphing over the dead bodies of the