wonderful greatness the height of their rings the swiftness of their motion the brightness of their colour and the multitude of their eyes This was the vision but what was the signification That 's the material question In general this was to set forth the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. But more particularly The man sitting above upon the throne is the Lord Jesus Christ The living creatures or Cherubins they are Angels good Angels which are immediatly under the Command of Christ But the wheels at the feet of the Cherubins what are they A wheel is instrumentum volubile a round turning instrument there are divers sorts of wheels chariot-wheels clock-wheels bel-wheels mil-wheels and many others which perhaps we shal meet withal by and by The wheels that appeared to Ezekiel are thought to be chariot-wheels The general conceipt is that he saw a compleat chariot and that the living creatures were the drawers and movers and the man on the throne the guider of it and the word Synechdochical rota proâ—â—â—â—u the wheel for the whole Chariot The wheel is an instrument of very great and frequent use Many works are done by the turning of the wheel The Chariot Coach and Cart are carried on their way by wheels The husbandman plows and thresheth and grindeth beats out his corn with wheels The huswife spins her thrid upon the wheel and the work of justice as we shal hear more afterward is done by the wheel A wise King scattereth the wicked and bringeth the wheel over them Prov. 20. 26. And by this time it is not hard to find out what is meant by the wheels namely all instruments and second causes by which God useth to work in the dispensation of his providence The glorious Angels first even they themselves are Gods great wheels Then the round celestial orbs and lights which are continually wheeling about next the lower world the elements and all creatures in the aire earth and wide sea But especially we are to understand by the wheels reasonable creatures as Kingdoms Common-wealths Citys Churches which are societies of men Kings Princes Magistrates chief Captains Armies Ministers preachers of the Gospel and all people in their several places who ever hath any employment under God is a wheel in the chariot of his providence These are the wheels Now it was cryed unto them From the throne above The Lord Jehovah that sate aloft upon the glorious throne he Cryed that is aloud earnestly with a mighty voice he called to them O Wheel not simply 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wheel but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oh Wheel This is demonstrative and points to some special wheel Though the voice be generally cryed to all the wheels to every creature in heaven and earth as if the son of God should say O World Yet here we must conceive that it is directed in an especial manner to Jerusalem and her wheels to the princes priests and Commons which were left there and were not carried into Babylon with the rest of the Captives For this vision was shew'd to the Prophet for Jerusalems sake to signify to him what was shortly to come to pass in the City and it is as if the man upon the throne had said O Jerusalem O This O! is an adverb or interjection of calling God calls to all the wheels and crys O Wheel This is a word of Authority and Command by which the Lord either drives the wheels on excites them to do something impâ—ratum fuit ipsis ut volverentur converterentur he spake to them to roul and turn about he gave them some commands which here are not expressed Or else it 's a word of countermand and he checks them for some irregular motions and it is as if the son of God should say O Wheell stop turn your course the right way obey In a word this is the word of Gods power whereby the world and all the creatures in it all second causes and all persons are over-awed and their motions determined You have the sence of the text next I l'e give you the general doctrin It is concerning the general and particular providence of God The voice of him that sits on the throne commands and over-aws all the wheels So universal and so particular is the providence of God that it governs and rules all things in heaven and earth The powerful providence of God doth dispose all second causes as he pleaseth and orders all creatures in the world and all motions in the world according to the counsell of his own will if the Lord do but cry O wheel all the wheels are at his beck and turn as he bids them There 's not the least motion of a Chariot wheel but the Lord appoints it This appears by Pharaohs Chariot wheels The Lord took off their Chariot wheels that they drave them heavily He had said before O wheel carry Pharaoh into the midst of the Sea now he gives them a check and cry's to them O wheel fly off from your axletrees and as the word comes from God so do the wheels move and turn Behold the power of God's word and how his voyce commands all things Psalm 29. vers 3. The voice of the Lord commands it to thunder or not to thunder the voice of the Lord commandeth the waters to ebbe or flow to be rugged or calme Vers 5. The voice of the Lord commands the Cedars he bids them grow and they come up again he speaks but to them and they are broken down also when he pleaseth he makes them skip like a Calfe or like a young Unicorn Vers 7. The voice of the Lord commands the fire he sayes to the watry cloud divide and it breaks in sunder and the lightning darts forth and scattereth it self through-out our Haemisphere in the twinkling of an eye Vers 6. and 8. The voice of the Lord commands Lebanon and Cadesh at his word the mountains daunce and the wildernesse tremble Vers 9. The voice of the Lord commands the wild beasts of the forrests he speaks to the Hinds and they Calve again he sayes the word and they are barren In the Forrest a leaf falls not from a tree the woods are not made bare without his word Vers 10. The Lord sits upon the floud yea the Lord sitteth King for ever his voice commands the sea he saith to it hitherto shalt thou come and no further and here shalt thou stop thy proud waves Yea the voice of the Lord commands the sons of men and they move according to his word For in him we live and move Act. 17. 28. He orders all our steps and goings Prov. 20. 24. But what may be the reason or ground of this That the voice of the Lord should thus command and over-aw all the wheel's Yes good reason What hand should turn the wheel but the same that made it By the voice of the Lord all creatures were made
By the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them Psal 33. 6. He did but say Let there be light and there was light He did but say Let there be a firmament let there be sea and dry land let there be grasse and trees in the earth and lights in the heaven and fishes in the sea and immediatly it was done it was so Yet further his voice did not only command these wheels to be made the same word also preserves them maintains them in being He upholds all things by the word of his power Hebr. 1. 3. God made all creatures therefore of right he may dispose of them and order all their motions as he pleaseth He is the great Atlas bears up heaven and earth and all things upon the strong shoulders of his providence and therefore he hath power to move all things as he listeth He that bears a burden upon his back may carry it whither he will The cunning Artificer who makes a clock or curious pocket-watch he also disposeth and ordereth every wheel in what place it shall be what motion it shall have how long it shall go So the Almighty and infinitely wise God he made the wheel's and turns the wheels he made the greatest and the least creatures and he causeth and over-ruleth the greatest and the least motions To give you the whole doctrine in one Embleme Ezekiel was an Aenigmaticall Prophet and me thinks he gives us that which was first shewed to him in a vision the most elegant and significant Hieroglyphick of Divine providence that can be found out in the whole world it is a Chariot A Chariot commonly is drawn by four horses by them at their feet are four wheels above a seat wherein the man sits who guides the engin he with his reins and whip and voice commands the beasts the wheels the whole Chariot and all things in it and they are moved and turned as he pleaseth Such is the Chariot of Providence God sits in the seat even above in heaven upon his glorious Throne and by his word and power commands guides and moves all inferiour things Next under God are the living creatures the Angels they are ministring spirits immediatly moved by him that sits upon the Throne The Angels they move the wheels God governs inferiour things by the ministry of Angels There are four living creatures and four faces and foure wheels to represent the foure corners of the earth The summe of all is this in one word The providence of God doth rule and commaud in all the four quarters of the world God hath wheels every where and he turns them all by his word of command O wheel You have the generall doctrine To make some use of it And here I might be large and apply it variously I might first for our instruction gather this Corollary That there is no Contingency in the world nothing fals out by chance Not a wheel stirs but it 's moved by Gods hand Not a Sparrow fals to the ground nor a haire from our heads without your Father Not an ax-head flies off from the helve but it 's thrown and directed by God's hand Indeed in regard of us and in relation to second causes things may seem chanceable and contingent because something fals out that was not like to happen at all or else the thing was like to fall out quite otherwise then it doth we being ignorant of the causes of such casualties But in regard of God nothing is contingent he is the first and supream cause the universall provisor and moderator sitting on his Throne as a Judge and a King taking notice and taking care of the least things of the smallest wheels in the Chariot in respect of him all things are necessary He worketh all things according to the counsell of his will Yet again I might apply it by way of reprehension and give a check to the heathenish language of many Christians that speak Luck and Chance as familiarly as Heathens use to do and attribute all things to Fortune This was my fortune this was my luck What are these but Atheists and such as deny Providence The iniquity of the house of Israel is exceeding great and the City full of perversenesse saith the Lord because they say the Lord hath forsaken the earth and the Lord seeth not The eye of his providence is not abroad the wheels move by chance Oh that such would be humbled for their sin Augustin writ Retractations and the very first thing he corrects in himself and bewail's is that ever he did use the word Chance or the name of Fortune But I let pass these And I wil apply the doctrine only as St. Paul teacheth me Rom. 15. 4. Whatsoever things were written were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope So whatsoever hath been spoken it hath therefore been spoken That you might have Patience Comfort And so hope The first use is of Exhortation and here I am to perswade you to patience Is every wheel turned by the voice of the son of God No motion but by his appointment Learn then willing submission and cheerful contentation in all conditions What do not the wheels move to thy liking Art thou displeased at the motion of the King Or at the motion of the Parliament or at the motion of the Army those are the three great wheels of the Kingdom Bestil they move as God bids them it was said unto them in my hearing O Wheel The Kings heart the Parliaments heart the Armies heart are all in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water and he turns them whethersoever he wil. Prov. 21. 1. Whatever hath been or whatever shal be hereafter peace or war order or confusion safety or ruin what shal we say It is the Lord hath spoken and he himself hath done it Esa 38. 15. To descend to lesser wheels do not things go with thee according to thy desire I wil make thee the living creature and thou hast thy wheels about thee how do they move Thy yoke-fellow thy children thy dearest friends thou wouldest have these sweetly to move with thee in a perpetual communion but God turns them another way they roul out of thy house and society into the grave and for this thou dost mourn and art discontented As for the world thou would'st have it run in upon thee upon wheels but God turns it another way and it runs away from thee upon wheels yea faster it flies away Riches certainly make themselves wings they flee away as an Eagle towards heaven Pro. 23. 5. thou growest into decay and poor and hereupon thou art troubled and discontented The tongues of people thou wouldest have them move rightly and speak the truth yea speak wel of thee but the Malignant tongues of the world run upon wheels of fire and clamour against thee prate to thy disgrace invent
furnished table bottles and flagons delicious dishes and a deale of Kitchin-stuff But what service do they as Magistrates Truly nothing at all that I can discern either for Church or Common-wealth These are only a kind of embossed nayls such as are driven into garments collars coaches trappings of horses chaires and other things only for state and ornament they have great and glorious bossed and gilded heads but a little ridiculous stalk hardly enough to hold their own or to keep them from falling out of their places they are so close driven that nothing can hang on them There are other of the high Nayls hang very full of things But of what Are they vessels of the Sanctuary Oh no such matter they bear up a deal of the Devils houshold-stuff Upon one there hangs a company of drunken ale-houses swearers prophane persons Sabbath-breakers cheaters and sharks these are upheld and born up bythem when honest men are thrown down to the ground Upon another hangs a knot of Anabaptists Antinomians Brownists Independents and others of the same bran disturbers of Sions peace these are countenanced and born up on high whilest the Orthodox party are sleighted cast off and suffered to fall flat on the ground Upon another depends a cluster of persons Popishly affected Malignants lignants Incendiaries such as these are born up and born out too upon all occasions Oh there 's too too many such rotten rusty misimployed nails 2. The middle nails they are the Ministers of the word the Clergy as they call them wel what hangs upon the most of them What but a plurality of livings A black gown or Canonical coat A service-book or book of homilys There did hang a while agone abundance of Copes Surplisses Alters Crucifixes Images and such trash til they were taken down by a strong hand But for powerful and frequent preaching prayer and the weighty works of the Ministry as strengthening the weak healing the sick binding up the broken bringing again that which was driven away and seeking that which was lost there 's nothing of all these to be seen amongst them Are these indeed for the glory of their fathers house 3. The lowest sort of nails they are the ordinary people Gentry and Commons Oh! What abundance of empty nails do we see round about Nothing at all hangs upon them only they take up a place in the wall There is a generation of Gentlemen and others and wel parted men too able to undergo good service and yet live without any calling any office any imployment at all as if they were born to no other end but only to spend and scatter what their progenitors had scraped together and left them but they wil not put under their shoulder to bear any burden of profitable employment in Church or Commonwealth See see what commonly hangs upon them bundles of hair Sampsons locks bushy periwigs dogs dice drabs cards and tables bottels of generous wine and flagons of strong drink red eyes swollen bellys and black souls nothing else at all Gentlemen are these things for the glory of your fathers house There are a company of idle Vagrants and sturdy Rogues that wander up and down the streets and lanes and high-ways ragged nails that stick out almost every where whethersoever we go and are ready to catch our garments and tear us almost in pieces and there 's nothing hangs on them but the sweat of other mens brows purses and garments and such things as they have torn from honest passengers Others there are of all sorts that indeed are cruelly loaden there hangs upon them huge bundles of oaths rapine Blasphemies Adulteries Treasons railings filthy speeches and all kind of sins but they wil bear no burden of service in the Church or Common-wealth Whereto shal I liken this accursed generation They are like unto Ezekiels vine-tree of which he speaks thus Son of man What cometh of the Vinetree above all other trees And of the Vine-branch which is amongst the trees of the Forrest Shal wood be taken thereof to do any work Or wil men make a pin thereof to hang a vessel thereon No No the Vine-stalk if once cut up wil not make a peg to hang a bottel on it wil not be profitable for any thing But what 's the end Behold it 's cast into the fire for fewel the fire devoureth both the ends of it and the midst of it is burnt is it meet for any work So shal it be with this unprofitable generation Therefore thus saith the Lord God As the Vine-tree among the trees of the forrest which I have given to the fire for fewel so wil I give them and I wil set my face against them they shal go out from one fire and another fire shal devour them Surely such nails as these shal not be suffered to stand long in the wall if a man see a nail stick up in his house of no use wil he not presently knock it out There were abundance of such nails as these in Juda and God knocked them out and threw them into Babylon Christ himself passeth sentence upon all such Cast that unprofitable servant into utter darkness there shal be weeping and gnashing of teeth Mat. 25. 30. Hear and tremble all you useless nails You unprofitable burdens of the earth Be you men or women that take up places in the world and do no service in the world in the name of the Lord I pass upon you Shebnas doome ver 25. In that day saith the Lord of hosts shal the nail that is fastned in the sure place be removed and be cut down and fall and the burden that was upon it shal be cut off for the Lord hath spoken it Of Exhortation and that is manifold and various to divers sorts of persons and to several dutys I am to direct my word of exhortation to 1. Magistrates 2. People The 1. Exhortation to the Magistrates You are all nails some higher some lower Remember that you are not for ornament only but chiefly and principally for use In the name of God let every one in his place do the office of a nail Truly all things in the Church and Common-wealth lye disorderly at this time or hang very dangerously and ready to fall and miscarry I beseech you let it be your care to uphold things let every nail bear something yea though you weaken your selves for the common good Take your charge in some particulars and that very shortly I speak to wise men a word wil suffice 1. Keep the peace Magistrates know your office you are all Commissioners for the peace and this is that which we are enjoyned to pray for you in authority That under you we may lead a quiet and a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty The nail holds things together when they are hanged upon it which lay scattered and sundred one from another before Yes upon one good pin they keep close How are the people
dis-regarded Ad populum phaleras Magistracy is expensive and if you offer to hang these heavy costs and charges on weak nails they wil quickly break and then you must take them down and keep them in the City purse Yet further to their strength and ability it 's requisite that they be fixed wel driven and fastned Magistrates must be resolved immoveable and couragious not sickle and inconstant turned about with every wind they must be wel setled in Religion inflexible resolute in a good cause I have seen some nails and pegs screwed into the wall and so long as they are not stirred you may hang what you wil on them but if any man come with a strong hand he may easily wind and unscrue them and then they soon grow loose and off slips all the burden they were entrusted withall and so I have seen many in authority carry things very fair in Church and Common-wealth very right they are as long as they are suffer'd to stand quietly but alas if the hand of greatness do but touch them with the violence of a threatning or the strength of fair promises of reward honor and preferment it wil easily turn and serue them any way and make them to betray Church and Common-wealth Religion and Liberty and whatever is precious Be sure therefore to chuse nails steeled with Christian resolution such as wil stand against all assaults fixed steady and immoveable like to that Rom. in Fabritius of whom it was said that one might as wel stay the motion of the sun in the firmament as to put him out of his way Have your thoughts ever upon such make choice of strong nails stout and able for understanding wisdom wit strength estate courage and resolution Able men 2. You must provide bright and shining nails not of base iron or wood but of pure gold wel burnished Such and only such would Solomon make use of in the Sanctuary Ever chuse such as shine and glister with piety and holiness men fearing God Be wise ye Kings saith David be learned ye Judges of the earth there 's strength and abilities required but that 's not all you must also serve the Lord with fear There is nothing more destructive and dangerous to Church Commonwealth then eminent abilitys unsanctified You shal oft observe great stout rusty rugged-iron nails to rent and tear and fret and change the colour of whatsoever is hanged upon them just so wicked men of eminent parts and great power do bear up a deal of mischief and by their countenance and example do taint and stain and corrupt all the inferior people As therefore David chose smooth stones to encounter the Philistin withall So do you chuse smooth nails to strike through the temples of Sisera nails of pure gold filed from their rust and ruggedness shining bright with piety and holiness provide such for the punishment of evil doers and faithfully to bear the affairs of the Church City and Common-wealth 3. You must provide right straight and sound nails Men of truth that is just men so the Septuagint Truth and justice are so neer allyed that ordinarily one is put for the other seek out for such as follow after justice such as hate all violence and wrong and flee from all kind of injustice Such as cover themselves with justice and put on judgment as a robe and diadem Job 29. 14. Provide men of truth Clear from all hypocrisy There are a company of guilded nails fairly guilded over but within rusty and rotten they are too-too many who are glorious in outward profession in outward appearance lovers of justice truth and godliness but within they are ful of guile and deceipt very hypocrites Look wel about you or else you may be couzen'd by the outward appearance Pick out right straight and sound nails true Nathaniels Israelites indeed such as in whom is no guile 4. You must look at nails elevated The nails which ly scattered on the ground are not in a fit posture to bear burdens No No but only such as are fastned aloft in the top of the wal or pillar Neither are such men fit for Magistracy whose thoughts lye groveling on the base earth who mind the world and therefore must you chuse men hating Covetousness The covetous man for a gift wil wrest judgment respect persons sel justice bear up all vice and punish innocence it self The nail that 's sit to bear burdens must be elevated the head and body slanting upwards a man fit to bear office must have a mind above earth a heart not greedy of filthy lucre if the head of the nail bend downward the scales of justice wil never hang sure upon it but slip off immediatly Now therefore my beloved brethren You that vote in elections be nice curious circumspect in the choice of nails let them be strong and able let them have heads and points let them be bright and shining let them be right and straight and let them be such as have their heads and hearts to heavenward Amongst the Romans there was superstitious observation of the Nail When the Common-wealth was in danger or opprest with great evils and calamities then did the Dictator fasten a great nail of iron or brass in the wall of the Capitol with marvailous solemnity And the fastning of such a nail was esteemed a present remedy against all mischiefs and a charm against the plague And so conceited they were of this way that oftentime a Dictator was created Solius figendi clavi causa only to knock in a nail thereby to save the City What reasons the ancient Romans had for this their custom or what experience of the success thereof I cannot give an account but I cannot miss of application You see how many evils are upon us how great our dangers would you remove all these Would you have the Church and Kingdom and City flourish again Then fasten good nails within your walls chuse and establish able and godly Magistrates that 's a good and ready way to free us of all our plagues I have done with Electors 2 I am next to speak a word of exhortation to Subjects such as live under Authority And here I am to admonish them of some duties which they owe to good Magistrates These 1. They must honor them Fear God saith St. Peter and Honor the King They are nails and God hath placed them aloft in the highest place of the wall he hath embossed them with honor and Authority he hath put his own name upon them I have said you are Gods and all of you are Children of the most high Psal 82. 6. They bear a great burden for your sakes on Eliakim hangs the weight and welfare of Israel Give therefore to all their due Honor to whom honor belongs Look upwards to those nails with admiration and reverence 2. They must preserve and cherish them Hath God fastened in the Church and Common-wealth good profitable and serviceable
innumerable company of wheels but God accounts of them all but as of one great engine to bring to pass his Counsel and decrees Look up to the glorious heavens rouling over your heads The primum mobile the first moveable or first mover turns continually from East to West in 24. hours upon the poles of the world the other inferior orbs as so many cross wheels turn quite contrary from West to East upon the poles of the Zodiak and finish their circle in different spaces of time yet all these in respect of God put the aire and the bottles of rain and the earth and all to them are but as one great wheel to do his work See it plain in the 2. of Hosea v. 21. I wil hear saith the Lord. I wil hear the heavens and they shal hear the earth and the earth shal hear the corn and the wine and the oyle and they shal hear Jezreel Here you see are many wheels many second causes or means subordinate one to another as it were a wheel in a wheel but all joyn as one wheel to do Gods work viz. to feed and sustein his Israel The Lord of hosts hath abundunce of Souldiers under him yet all but one great Army whereby he gets the victory In a clock you see many wheels some greater some lesser some move one way some the quite contrary way some flower some quicker yet they are all one engine serving for one and the same end viz. to count the time and point at the hours There 's nothing more plain Let us make some Use of this and learn how to judg rightly of Gods admirable providence You must not take the work in pieces nor six your eye too much upon some one special wheel but you must take all together if you sever the wheels and look upon some particular dispensations you wil think the wheels move strangely Consider Joseph he was made as a wheel and if you mind only some particular turnings you wil think he was turned strangely he was turned into the ditch into a harlots house into the prison and yet the best of all the brethren other wheels also moved disorderly about him The Ismaelites were moved by covetousness his brethren moved by envy his Mris. turned by lust strange spectacles to look upon them severally but now mark the whole work of Gods providence and you shal see it good and comely by the turning of these wheels he brings about Josephs advancement and Israels preservation How many wheels and contrary motions were there about the passion of Jesus Christ The Jews were moved with envy if you look no further that 's a strange sight Judas was moved with covetousness if you look no further that 's a strange sight Pilate was moved with popular air and that 's a strange sight Christ was pierced and by wicked hands crucified and slain and if you look upon that alone oh it's a prodigious and dismall sight but take all the work of God's providence together and you will behold it beautifull and glorious by all these wheel's the Lord works the redemption of man the salvation of his Church the destruction of death and hell the conquest of the Devill and the exaltation of his Son and the glorification of his Saints When you see Tyrants prevaile and domineer and exercise savage cruelty When you see bloody Massacres of God's dear people holy Martyrs go to prisons slakes and flames when you see the Prophets and Ambassadors of the Lord slighted contemn'd silenced If you look no further these things will seem very sad and amazing but take all the whole work of God's providence together and you shall see it 's wise and good The Church is sowen with the Martyrs blood and made fruitfull The destruction of the Churches enemies is ripened the glory of the Saints hastned and in all God is glorified Consider therefore the motions of the wheels not by piece-meale but wholly and entirely part not one wheel from another I say as S. Augustine Atten â—e totum lauda totum Mark all and praise all In all the confusions that our eyes behold let this stay our minds though this wheel and that wheel and another wheel seem to us to move dangerously preposterously and disorderly threatning to crack and overthrow all yet in Gods hand they are all but one wheel and he will turn them so about that in the long runne they shall work out his own glory and his Churches good You have heard the word cryed Now let us hearken to The second part of the text TO whom was this word cryed to the Wheels And you have heard already what is signified by the wheels viz. The round world and all the creatures that are therein more especially the lower world and all sublunary things and here you may observe The mutability of all things in the world They are compared to wheels subject to continuall turning and change The condition of this world is quasi versatio continua as if it did run continually upon wheels here 's nothing firme stable or permanent The celestiall Spheres they run their rounds every day and the glorious lights of heaven are in continuall wheeling The Sun comes forth out of his tabernacle in the morning like a bridegroome and as a Gyant runs his race till he be mounted up to his meridian and then declines towards evening and sets commonly in a cloud The Moon sometimes it 's in the new sometimes encreasing sometimes in the full sometimes waning and ever in the change The Elements the fire the aire the water are in continuall motion and transmutation the earth which only is immoveable what is it but a stage of nothing but changings and turnings Upon this Theater kingdoms and common-wealths are turned up and down How were the four great Monurchies those high and dreadfull wheels rolled up and down from one to another from the Babylonians to the Persians from the Persians to the Grecians from the Grecians to the Romans And so are all the Nations before the Lord as the chaffe of the mountains before the wind and like a rolling thing before the whirlewind Esa 17. 13. Upon this Theater of the earth how is the Church of Christ wheeled and hurried up and down Now shee is in Aegypt by and by in Canaan not long after in Babylon and often driven into the Wildernesse sometimes in prosperity sometimes in persecution and never long in one condition You have her lively picture in the twelfth of the Revelation the first verse She is clothed with the Sun indeed but under her feet is the Moon to shew that her way is in continuall change and turning never long permanent in one condition Upon this Theater of the earth how do cities and Families wheel about Volvuntur revolvuntur Ziklag to day flourishing to morrow in the ashes Jerusalem a while the beauty of the whole earth her towers buildings and bulwarks the worlds wonder and within a while
the Psalmist O my God! of old thou hast laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of thy hands They shal perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shal wax old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shal be changed But thou art the same and thy years shal have no end The earth is round like a tennis-ball and the creatures in and upon the earth are voluble as wheels and all things under the Zodiaque Variable and transitory the refore aspire higher Pant after God make him the portion of your inheritance and dwel in him Say unto the Lord Fecisti nos Domine ad te inquietum est cor nostrum donec quiescat in te Thou Oh Lord hast created us to thy self and our heart is restless til it rests in thy self Fix not here but mount your thoughts upwards towards the new-Jerusalem the City that hath foundations where there is no volubility nor vanity Though you be on earth yet dwel in heaven above the spheres above the way of the year and the sun and all these lower turning wheels Rest your souls upon the unchangeable God! I have done with the 2. part and particular The third and last part of the text follows viz. the witness in whose presence the word was cryed In my hearing The question is why should the son of God cry this word O Wheel in the Prophets hearing For the more ful answer to this demand I wil first give you the Original Hebrew that wil make the business something more clear It was cryed unto them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in auribus meis in mine eare To speak in ones eare is more then to speak in ones hearing A word may be spoken in a mans hearing that concerns him not at all but no man directs his speech into the eare of another but we conclude presently it was a speech of some special concernment to him that was rounded in the eare You know it 's our common expression I wil speak a thing in your eare by and by that is some word that more neerly concerns you then others So then this word was not only spoken in Ezekiels hearing but the Prophet was neerly concerned in it And now in a word I wil shew you the reason why God spake this word in the prophets eare You have the reason chapt 3. v. 17. Son of man I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel therefore hear the word at my mouth and give them warning from me The Observation is clear What God speaks in the eare of his prophets the prophets must speak in the eares of the people Most likely God did not speak immediatly to the wheels but God spake to the Prophet that he might speak to the wheels in Gods name and every word which Gods messengers receive from the Lord they must shew it unto the people clearly and faithfully Whether it be a word of command the Prophet must shew the whole wil of God unto the people So Exod. 19. 9. when God gave the Commandments on mount Sinai the Lord said unto Moses Lo I come to thee in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with thee and beleeve thee for ever Or if it be a word of promise of grace and mercy the Prophet of the Lord must prononnce the favour and good wil of God Ezek. 9. 4. The Lord said to the man clothed with linnen go through the midst of the City even of Jerusalem and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof and in the first verse this was cryed in mine eares with a loud voice saith the Prophet why That he might comfort the mourners with these words Or if it be a word of reproof and threatning of cursing from mount Ebal the Prophet of the Lord must denounce it unto the people in the 9. of Ezek. v. 5. The Lord said to the executioners of his justice and wrath who had the slaughter-weapons in their hands go through the City and smite let not your eye spare neither pity and says the Prophet this was said in my hearing why that so he might warn the people And this chiefly is intended in this text and Chapter a word of reproof and threatning to Jerusalem The vision concerns Jerusalem Jerusalem had sinned grievously and the Lord was now about to depart from Jerusalem but before he goeth quite away he cryeth aloud in the Prophets hearing O Wheel thou movest disorderly destruction is coming upon thee and now the Prophet hearing this must reprove the City and admonish them of their danger Cry aloud says the Lord spare not lift up thy voice like a trumpet and shew my people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins Esa 58. 1. The Lord cryed in the eare of Elijah the Tishbite 1. King 21. 17. it was a word of threatning and the Prophet went immediatly and thundred it in the eares of King Ahab Thus saith the Lord hast thou killed and also gotten possession Thus saith the Lord in the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth shal dogs lick even thy blood also The Lord speaks in the eare of Nathan and he thunders in the eares of David 2 Sam. 12. The Prophets of the Lord must cry boldly to the greatest and most dreadful wheels they must reprove and threaten and not spare if the Lord speak in our hearing we must cry it in their ears To make some application of this And first of all to you that are Gods Prophets and Ministers be faithful and bold Doth God cry any word in your hearing Keep it not back from the wheels shew it unto the people That which the Lord hath set down in the holy Scriptures he hath spoken in our hearing He takes us as witnesses to what he speaks and we must depose and testify for God before all men before all the world When God gives a word of command in our hearing we must exhort when God holds forth a promise in our hearing we must comfort and when God hath a controversy with a people in our hearing we must rebuke sharply and shew the people their danger Opposition we must look for Behold I send thee saith the Lord to Ezekiel and to us also as wel as to him I send thee to a rebellious nation they wil not hear I send thee among briers and thornes and scorpions But whether they wil hear or whether they wil forbear Son of man be not afraid of them neither he afraid of their words neither be dismayed at their looks Thou shalt speak my words to them whether they wil hear or whether they wil forbear Behold I have made thy face strong against their faces and thy forehead strong against their foreheads Chap. 3. 8. 9. As an Adamant harder then flint have I made
tell me I pray doth the reproving the faults and negligences of Magistrates strike at the root of Magistracy Is that the way to bring it into contempt No no this is the way to establish Magistracy and make it glorious As for the wheels of our curious clocks and watches is it a prejudice to them to be filed when they are rusty to be scoured when they are foule to be oyled when they turn too sluggishly You are convinced I dare say that all this is for the good of the wheels to make them shine more bright move more nimbly and do their office more faithfully The application is easie I leave it to your selves I shall draw to a conclusion of this point As for the wheels be they little wheels or be they great wheels be they high or be they low be they rich or be they poore whatsoever is spoken from God in our hearing concerning them we must cry it again in their eares if we that are set as watch-men see their sin and danger and for feare or flattery shall forbear to warn them how dreadfull is our doom Thus saith the Lord Ezek. 3. 17. Son of man I have made thee a watch-man unto the house of Israel therefore hear the Word at my mouth and give them warning from me vers 18. When I say to the wicked thou shalt surely dye and thou givest him not warning nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life the same wicked man shal dye in his iniquity but his blood will I require at thine hand vers 19. Yet if thou warn the wicked and he turn not from his wickednesse nor from his wicked way he shal dye in his iniquity but thou hast delivered thine own soul This for us Ministers that shrink from our duty Now hear O you wheels great and smal you that kick at reproof and hate him that shal search and dress your sores and count those the only brave preachers that speak roses and their lips like the whorish womans drop as an hony-comb A word for you Read Esa 30. 8. Now go write it before them in a table and note it in a book that it may be fore the time to come and for ever 9. That this is a rebellious people lying Children Children that wil not hear the Law of the Lord. Why what 's their special wickedness Mark v. 10. They say to the Seer's see not and to the Prophets prophesy not unto us right things speak unto us smooth things prophesy deceipts 11. Get you out of the way oh you reproving preachers cause the holy one of Israel to cease molesting us with such bold reprehenders But now take in what follows the punishment 12. Wherefore thus saith the holy one of Israel because you despise this word and trust in oppression and perversness and stay thereon 13. Therefore this iniquity shal be to you as a breach ready to fall swelling out in a high wall whose breaking cometh suddainly and in an instant 14. And he shal break it as the breaking of a potters vessel that is broken in pieces he shal not spare so that there shal not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth or to take water withall out of the pit Behold ye despisers and wonder and vanish away the contempt of the word spoken of by the Prophet is the contempt of him that sits on the throne He that despiseth you says our Lord Jesus Christ despiseth me Luke 10. 16. It is the See'rs duty to cry and to cry earnestly to cry with an O O O! unto all the wheels and wo be to us if we cry not That which we cry is nothing else but what was spoken in our hearing from the throne of glory It is the Lords voice that cryeth unto the City and the man of wisdom wil hear the rod and who hath appointed it that is he will humbly and patiently hear the Prophets of the Lord when they cry as wel as when they sing when they reprove as wel as when they comfort when they preach the Law as wel as when they publish the Gospel he wil hearken to the doctrine that shews him his sins and threatens the rod but he that despiseth instruction and reproof is a fool THE APPLICATION Hitherto Wel-beloved Christians you have had the Exposition of the text the general doctrine and particular observations which grow out of the text and all the way I have shewed you the Uses what to do with those doctrines and observations that they may be rendred profitable Now one thing yet remains and that is to make Application to bring it home to the present time and occasion to the place and persons It 's true this word O Wheel is cryed to the whole world and all things in it as if he that sits upon the Throne should have said O world O heavens O earth oh Kingdoms of the world But yet it is most clear and certain to any one that minds the scope of the Chapter that this word O Wheel was in a more especial and peculiar manner cryed unto Jerusalem The whole Vision concerned Jerusalem it was to admonish Jerusalem and to foreshew things that should shortly be accomplished in Jerusalem Then thus Jerusalem was the chariot the Princes Priests and people were the Wheels And these things are recorded for our instruction what was then cryed to Jerusalem is now cryed to Norwich This City is the Chariot the Magistrates the Ministers and the Commons are the Wheels to these it is cryed in my hearing Oh Wheel O! This adverb or interjection O! makes the application plain and brings it close and home This O! is a servant to the passions and is useful to express various affections It is ever Signum allocutionis a sign of the Vocative case it speaks by calling loud unto another and it principally signifieth and expresseth these following passions with their effects 1. Indignation So Act. 13. 9. Paul set his eyes on Elymas the Sorcerer with indignation and said O! full of all subtilty and all mischief thou child of the devil 2. Reprehension the effect of indignation So Math. 3. 7. John the Baptist when he saw the Pharisees and Sadduces come to his Baptism he said O generation of Vipers 3. It expresseth anger which is declared by threatning So Math. 23. 37 38. Jesus brake forth Oh! Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee behold your house is left unto you desolate 4. It discovers grief So 2. Sam. 18. 33. David upon the news of his sons death burst out in passion O my Son Absalom my Son my Son Absalom would God I had dyed for thee O Absalom my son my Son 5. It 's ever a sign of calling As Ruth 4. 1. Boaz called to the Kinsman and said Ho! such an one turn aside sit down here 6. It shews vehement desire