this Body there succeeds Judgment and Account and strict requiring for all those Omissions of Good and Duty which I have been guilty of which are now utterly gone by and cannot be retrieved for all eternity Trial was once had but now it is over even as to all the Days and Doings of this Life here upon Earth Now the Days are passing and we are as yet in the Flesh but then they will be all over and gone and our Spirits will be removed from hence Then shall they remember Luke 16. 25 the several Steps and Passages of our Life here on Earth which at firsâ— may seem as faint as the remembrance of â— Night-Vision or of the things which havâ— been lately or long since past But they shalâ— be all call'd over again and appear before usâ— All the Thoughts Words and Actions of thâ— past Life will remain present before the Souâ— and appear more lively and make yet a greater impression because then she is to receivâ— accordingly than when they were first done The Word of Instruction which doth arisâ— hence is that every thing now should be so done as it will be then wished and desired that it haâ— been done and this is to strive to the utmost iâ— pleasing and finding acceptance with Almighty God In what fear should we pass the timâ— of our sojourning How should we improvâ— every moment of our precious Time and nâ— suffer the least portion thereof to pass away iâ— unprofitable and vain things The dispropoâ—tion between Time and Eternity is vast anâ— as much greater as between the whole Oceaâ— and a single Drop or as the whole gathering â—f the Waters is to a narrow Gulph or Stream The Rivers run to the Sea and in like manâ—er as soon as we draw Breath we are gliding â—n 'till we launch forth and are swallowed up â—nto Eternity The Odds will be as great or â—ather more exceeding than when one who â—as imprisoned in a dark Dungeon or cubâ—ed up in a narrow close Room is let out to â—he liberty of the whole Earth Or like a Swalâ—ow which for a little time was pent up in a Cage is let out again to fly up and down in â—he wide and immense Regions of Air. The â—lteration and Change which will be then â—ade upon us is yet more unconceivable It â—oth not yet appear what we shall be Now â—e know nothing or but little of the Soul â—e shall then perceive nothing besides the Soul â—ow we are wholly taken up with the Conâ—erns of the Body then we shall have nothing â—o do with it And so though our Bodies do â—â—oulder towards the Dust and then seem to be â—tterly lost yet it is not so for ever for they â—â—all be raised up again and rendred glorious â—nd incorruptible Now we do mind if not â—nly yet chiefly things sensible and carnal â—ut then we shall be wholly taken up with the â—onsideration of things spiritual The whole Creation with all the Things and Works of God will be more clearly manifested before us and understood by us than they are now as much as the Understanding of a Man doth exceed and surpass the Conception and Instinct of a Beast It will be a very great change and renewal of things now no more to turn to Corruption nor to be destroyed nor yet dissolved But as it is said of Melchisedeck That he abideth a Priest continually Heb. 7. 3. By which Word Priest according to its first institution is signified the most Sanctified and Holy and Choice of the People And ye shall be unto me a Kingdom of Priests and a holy Nation Exod. 19. 6. from whence cometh that Word Clergy So in like manner it may be affirmed when those true Things are erected and set up whereof the Things heretofore made and now in being are but the figure when the new Heavens and the new Earth are created which are spoken of in Isai 65. 17. then if we may so speak after the manner of Men with much humility trembling and reverence that it may be understood by their Capacities God hath done his best For the new Heavens and the new Earth which I will make shall remain observe that before me saith the Lord Isai 66. 22. This Word Remain doth denote an eternal unchangeable state or whatever is to last for a time if it be a thousand or million of Years that is transitory for the several parts and portions of Time do pass away and succeed one another Now there is both Time and Motion which are relative Terms and these do point forth unto as they will be swallowed up at length in the eternal Rest The whole Earth is at rest and quiet they break forth into singing Isai 14. 7. This doth respect and look back unto that Confusion Desolation Destruction Trouble and Weariness which hath been heretofore on the Earth when there was fear and weeping It is before said The Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow and from thy fear and from thy hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve vers 3. These former evil things shall be done away and the contrary good things shall succeed in the room thereof And though this will in some measure be fulfilled in the latter days on the Earth when the Sinners who cause all this evil and trouble shall be consumed out of the Earth and the wicked shall be no more Psal 104. 35. For in what Prayer the Spirit of Truth doth dictate is included a Promise that so it shall be And then the People who inhabit here shall practice the same Holiness and live in peace as in Jerusalem which is above which is the Mother of us all Which Word Jerusalem by Interpretation is the Visions of Peace Though this will be in a less degree and more imperfect manner just before the Church on Earth shall be received up and swallowed into that of Heaven And it shall then come to pass that the whole Creation shall be at resâ— and quiet They shall sing for joy and breaâ— forth in loud Voices and everlasting Hallelujahs as is described in the Revelations They shall not only be so as to rest and inward peace of Soul and Spirit but also as to outward Resâ— and Motion The Sun shall no more be thy lighâ— by day thy Sun shall no more go down neither shall thy Moon withdraw it self for the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting Light Isai 60 18 19. So shall it no more rejoyce as a strong Man to run a Race nor any longer continueâ— his going forth from the end of Heaven nor his Circuit unto the ends of it but the reason of the thing will then also cease and God Himself will then supply that immediately to his living Creatures and Spirits which they had before by the means and instrumentality of the inanimate Creatures There shall be no more any weary Beast but if these sensitive and irrational Creatures should be raised up also to being
as to the attainment of them all Men act according as their knowledge is But with some it is imagination or falshood when others do apprehend the thing exactly as it is and according to truth Each Mâ—n doth according to such a number of thoughts within himself Here again the Rule with some is to do according as the most do and to walk according to the course of this World to be guided by the Sayings and Opinions of the People and by what arises to himself in his next and uppermost thought Others do make the Word of God their set and constant Rule and also they are led by the silent and inward Dictates of the Spirit Now indeed all the days of a Man's life here on Earth do pass away like a shadow and so it is as to the good or evil the conveniency or inconveniency the comfort or irksomness of them both is but little and it soon passeth away But then at last comes the Judgment of God and distribution is made to every one of reward or punishment according to the deeds done in the Body whether good or evil true or false And therefore it is mightily incumbent upon us to see well to it because that every word and action doth come into reckoning For according to the deeds done in the Body so will God recompence and so shall we receive and therefore it behoves us to know and consider before in whatever we take in hand or whatever our hand finds us to do how this will pass in the future examination and trial and whether it will tend to our benefit or loss at that day Whatever thy hand finds thee to do remember the end and thou wilt never do amiss keep the Judgment of God always in thine eye and thou wilt never go much astray And so it comes to pass that where some do good and others do evil some behave themselves rightly in such a matter and others behave themselves wrong It happens thus according to the different measure of knowledge which they have Moreover that the Heart be without knowledge it is not good This knowledge is branched forth into the things that have been the things that are and the things that shall be how God dealt with his People and Creatures which were before we were born and who are gone off from the Earth before us how it is between God and them who are for a little while breathing here But more especially the earnest expectation of the Creature should be forward after those great and good things he will do after this Earth is dissolv'd and after the new eternal and irreversible state of things is brought in When he that for about 6000 years has been a turning Man to destruction doth say again Return ye Children of Men Psal 90. 3. The first is said in the single number because now they die severally in their individual Persons one after another But the resurrection will be in the plural for they will be all rais'd and brought up together at once This will be a change and alteration to a witness as we use this Phrase in common proverbial speaking when mortality shall be swallow'd up of life when this corruption shall put on incorruption never more to see or turn again unto corruption This natural Body shall be raised up a spiritual Body We have not now thoughts to conceive nor words to express how or after what manner the whole alteration will be it makes us fear and shrug at the lively and through apprehension thereof Now we know what we are but what we shall be after these Bones are turned into dry Bones and after they shall live again O Lord thou knowest and also how it will be with us when we shall be caught up into the Air there ever for to remain with the Lord. Now because we hope desire and would have the best things whereof both the good and evil are in the hands and disposal of God therefore our way is to please him and to get his favour The things which we do in order to God that is call'd Religion and it is either worship or obedience These two subjects viz. Some Thoughts of the Life to come and of the State of Religion as it is now in the World are fitly join'd together because one of them is in order to the other For the end of every Man's Religion if he doth understand and practise it aright is that he may please God and that himself may be saved Seeing that it is made known unto him both from his own Soul and from the Book of the Lord and also from what he hears by the hearing of the Ear and he believes the same that he must live for ever he cannot do otherwise than desire to be happy for ever This puts Mankind upon their several ways of pleasing and finding acceptance with Almighty God and they go on according to their own several Opinions Persuasions and Congregations What they do herein is the hearing of Words or the offering up of Prayers unto God It is the Opinion of the Papists that the Work done and the bare outward use of the Ordinances doth conferr Grace and is acceptable unto God Others again of the Reformed Religion do believe that this doth depend upon upon the right intention and good heart of the Worshipper which is so in very truth and according to the Doctrine of the holy Scriptures But still there is a tincture and relick of this kind of Popery remaining at this day among the Protestants for they think that they have done a great deal in order to God by having kept his Ordinances and because they were continually before him Psal 50. 7. and they did not omit them at any time Indeed it was well done herein and one act of continued duty and obedience unto God for as on the other side it is a sign of open ungodliness and rebellion when they refuse to tread God's Courts so here it is a token of profess'd and visible subjection unto God when they do diligently and constantly keep his Ordinances and never omit them at any time My self have reason to pray earnestly unto God that he will not reprove me because my Sacrifices and Burnt-Offerings have not been continually before him I have been forced to neglect his Publick Worship for many Lord's Days successively lest the Sons of Violence my Persecutors who are many in number should hale me again unto Prison And so because I have not the benefit of them my self shall I go about in any wise to depretiate or lessen from that just value and real goodness which arises from them God forbid There hath been indeed that tincture of Man's infirmity who have calculated Religion according to their own circumstances and condition as to speak some what more favourably of the omission of that duty which themselves did not altogether so much practice as again more excusably of thaâ— sin which themselves were addicted and given
I despise your Feast-days and I will not smell in your solemn Assemblies Tho' ye offer your Burnt-offerings and Meat-offerings I will not accept them neither will I regard the Peace-offering of your Fat Beasts Take thou away from me the noise of thy Songs for I will not hear the melody of thy Viols what must we do then But let Judgment run down as Waters and Righteousness as a mighty Stream Have ye offered unto me Sacrifices and Offerings in the Wilderness forty Years O House of Israel Amos 5. 21 22 23 24 25. Have ye worshipped me according to your several Ways and Congregations in this Wilderness of the Earth where one is at a loss to find the right Way through your manifold Opinions and Divisions for almost six thousand Years O ye Children of Men But still ye have continued in your own Doings and in the things ye have made to your selves whereas that is the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not Man Heb. 8. 2. And now what if God himself should say in the last Day as he doth now speak from Heaven in this his Word I hate I despise I will not accept neither will I regard your Burnt offerings Meat-offerings and Peace-offerings Which he himself did yet command and institute and Man did then use them to please atone and be reconciled to Almighty God This is to be understood by the way that God will one day speak himself in person with a loud and outward audible Voice what he doth now speak from Heaven in the still Voice of his Spirit or in the Scriptures which are his Epistle sent unto the Inhabitants of the Earth And whereas with many Men their Letters are powerful but their bodily Presence is weak and contemptible it will be contrariwise as to God For his Word now as written or spoken by Men is weakness 1 Cor. 1. 25. But when himself shall utter his Voice the Earth will melt Psal 46. 6. The Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat 2 Pet. 3. 10. For the Lord himself shall descend with a shout with the Voice of the Archangel and with the Trumpet of God 1 Thess 4. 16. So that he will make a yet greater impression and cause a greater shaking not only upon the living Creatures but also upon the very material Works of God even all the World over than that manner of giving the Law did formerly upon the single and particular place of Mount Sinai concerning which see Exod. 19. Heb. 12. 17 18. 19. So it will be pronounced concerning the several Acts and Parts of Worship outward Prayer Praise Hearing the Word Baptism and the Lord's Supper Not that these are to be cast off and neglected in no wise But yet so it is when it doth become the Sacrifice of Fools the Sacrifice of Sinners and Transgressors for they provoke God and deceive themselves whereby they are Fools when they keep up one with another that is when they worship God and yet continue in sin and transgression The whole Scripture is full to the same purpose But here it may be surmised That if the case is so it is good for such not to worship God at all But all Men cannot receive this Saying but unto whom it is given for Worship is due from every Creature unto God and these things are written not that they should cast off and neglect it in no wise But that every one should turn away from his Iniquities Acts 3. 26. and cease from all manner of sin and transgression And then they are to obey all the Commandments of God which relate to Good or Evil Righteousness or Wrong Truth or Falshood enjoying the one and forbidding the other as well as they do already obey those his Commandments which pertain to his Worship Except they do this also they cannot be saved and all their Worship will signifie nothing It is strange but yet true and common That many People of both Sexes should go on blindly and ignorantly for thirty forty fifty and sixty Years yea throughout all their life in this Deceit of being Worshippers of God and yet not doing his Will whereas it is written so plainly that every Capacity may understand it Now we know that God heareth not Sinners but if any Man be a Worshipper of God and doth his Will him he heareth John 9. 31. As we read that Prayer of Moses and David and that Promise which God made unto his People by Isaiah of Levi he said Bless Lord his Substance and accept the Work of his Hands Deut. 33. 8 11. Remember all thy Offerings and accept thy Burnt-sacrifice Selah Psal 20. 3. They shall come up with acceptance on mine Altars Isai 60. 7. and Ezek. 20. 40 41. We learn this Word of Instruction which may make us to fear and take heed and beg pardon for the Iniquity of our holy things and to pray instantly and continually for acceptance that in all things we do in order to God or pertaining to Religion as it is commonly named or understood unless God do accept thereof it all signifies nothing Nay what is yet further It is as cutting of a Dog's neck there is not much in that it is as offering Swines blood this doth displease God it is as blessing an Idol Isai 66. 3. which is the highest and superlative degree of provoking God to the greatest manner that possibly can be So they do rather displease than please they make God to be further off and more angry rather than bring him near and make him reconciled unto us Hear this Word all ye People of England that enter in at the Church-doors or Meeting-Houses to praise the Lord. Another thing wherein ye are defective and found wanting is this For they say and do not Mat. 23. 2. They hear read and talk of many good Words and precious Truths but they do not turn them into practice and suitable action It is recorded of Moses the Servant of the Lord He was mighty in Words and in Deeds Acts 7. 22. so he was for both and therein he pleased and was accepted by God who had hereupon a favour and love towards him But this belongs not to the nominal nor yet to the real Christians of this Age who make a fair shew in the Flesh and they are sincere and of the better sort yet herein they are found wanting many of them are mighty in Words but not in Deeds They do talk of the highest Duties and Attainments of Religion and they do conceive speak read hear and write of the great Truths of God but how to perform the same at all times and in all places and in reference to all Persons they find not Towards the publishing and making known these Truths throughout all this Region or to hazard or even to suffer actual tribulation for the Word's sake they are offended and themselves will not run the risque and experience of it The like
and be assured of by the quickness of Thought and by Sight the principal Sense and Operation thereof For our Thoughts will run to and fro from East to West from North to South faster than the Sparks among the Stubble even in a moment of Time For so our Eyes reach up unto Heaven at the first opening the Lid thereof so the Spirit of a Man will in the twinkling of an eye waft it self throughout the whole Universe Besides the quickness of its motion it is eminent for its tenuity whereby it will pass through the most firm Bodies Now the Soul is wrapt up in a small Body and seems to be little more than nothing but then it will be exceeding subtle and small and then it will be gathered up unto the Father of Spirits As aforesaid People will then perceive and remember that it would be infinitely better for them to have done exactly according to the Will of God than to have acted at that confusion and uncertainty with which the World goes on now after their own Ways and in their own Wisdom and Will It is a frequent form of speech in Ezekiel and in the other Prophets That when God doth bring his Judgment and Punishment on the Inhabitants of the Earth then they shall know that the Lord hath not said thus in vain So when the Reward is to be given and some are made up among the Lord's Jewels then shall they return and discern between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not Mal. 3. 17 18. So when this Generation of Men and Women is carried off from the Earth as the former already are and as we go off day by day in our several Persons then we shall return that is to the proper Understanding of Men and discern that it would be better to have lived otherwise The consideration whereof will raise indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish in the Soul for having done evil because there comes of it punishment and also loss of an exceeding and eternal Happiness To what is doubt now and dull apprehension then will be the greatest certainty and most lively sense that so it would have been Let the Heathen be awakened and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat c. Joel 3. 12. By which phrase of awakened we learn that the knowledg of God and the Christian spiritual Life is as much beyond that of Heathens and natural Men as waking is to sleep And even in serving of God there are proportionable degrees which do exceed the service of God according to the common standard and size of the World as real Action is beyond Dreaming But then according to Truth and as it is common to all This Life with all its activities is as much less and comes short of the future Life as sleeping now is to waking or as the absolute death of the Body is to the breathing thereof in sleep or as fire it self doth exceed the remote and distant heat thereof or as the light of the Sun shining in its brightness is much more than the dim light of a Candle And so the business and employment with all the other things pertaining to it do proportionably as much exceed the other And so the Happiness and Good which God hath prepared for his Creatures and which he will invest them withal doth yet seven times exceed the utmost apprehension and thoughts any one hath concerning it As we have heard so have we seen Psal 48. 8. and yet much more abundantly in the City of the Lord of Hosts in the City of our God God will establish it for ever Selah Whereby is denoted a contrariety and diversity to the things here which are but perishing and do pass away We have thought of thy loving kindness O Lord in the midst of thy Temple vers 9. Now this Temple is the World and accordingly the Jews fashioned their outward Temple made with hands according to the similitude thereof and the Earth is observed to be placed in the exact midst of the World So that it is no forced construction but the very natural meaning thereof That in this short time we did live and inhabit here on this Earth we thought of the loving kindness of God not so much what we were sensible of then but chiefly what he did intend to do further for his Creatures It is elsewhere written Men's Hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the Earth Luke 21. 16. So it will be with them who have been ungodly and wicked but to the good and obedient it is joyful Hope and comfortable Expectation either to look after what things are coming on the Earth or what shall be shortly manifested before them Day unto Day uttereth Speech and Night unto Night sheweth Knowledge As every day bringeth forth something that is remarkable of what is done here throughout the World There is somewhat more or new if not in its self yet in its person or in the manner and place of acting So the Servant of God who is endued with Faith and Knowledge as every day he makes nearer approaches to the things unseen so he is in expectation of further knowledge and discovery of them As the Traveller upon every five or six miles advance hath a new and fresh Horizon opened unto him so in the succession of Days and Weeks and Months and Years we know more spiritually concerning God and also more clearly and distinctly concerning the other Life Sometimes we are upon the Mountains and then in the Valleys our Mind is now pure lifted up and dwelling in Heaven again it is cast down and become altogether earthly and sensual Sometimes we have clearness and brightness of light then a cloudy day see Zech. 14. 6. now there is a glimmering of morning and evening and then again we are fallen into the darkness of night It is thus differently with us throughout the several times of our Life as to our apprehension of things spiritual and eternal Sometimes we are clear and then again cloudy We are sometimes in the twilight yea we become more dark and at some times are in utter darkness concerning them And this doth not so much depend upon set times and seasons but it happens thus diversly with us as we commit sin which makes God forsake and withdraw his Communications from us Again when we walk before him in all sobriety obedience and duty as is well-pleasing in his sight then he doth afford the Communications and Manifestations of himself to us Lord how wilt thou manifest thy self to us and not to the World But there is certainly a different and another Manifestation whereby God appears and discovers himself to his elect Servants than as he is apprehended by the generality of the World Tho' to them it is somewhat hard to discern as much and trust in him God doth commonly more shew and manifest himself in time of trouble both
other and before I had finish'd what I came into this World for to do How many precious Truths of more latitude of greater concern and of more universal use to all Men and Women in the general which might be of instruction and edification for longer time and even for the Generations to come which do also more immediately respect the Church of God and his elect Servants might have been brought forth and published instead of a lesser matter of a National Revolution which was done by a few thereof And tho' their eternal Salvation was concerned herein that being to be obtain'd no other way than by keeping the Commandments of God yet it was not altogether so much relating to the great and common multitude whose Souls are as highly esteem'd of God as the Souls of the rich and mighty People And then for my laying of divine Truths before them they laid persecution upon our Loins which caused disturbance of Mind and loss of our precious Time Hereby I came to lose that lovely Awe and Dread and that sweet Sence of God which did formerly dwell and abide upon my Soul and Spirit O that I were as in the days of my youth when the Secret of God was upon my Tabernacle Hereby also I became insensible and unbelieving as to the invisible and future things of God which heretofore my Heart was always full with the expectation of I who have heard Words of God and knew the Knowledge of the Most High who was always looking after what I shall not see now and still beholding after what did draw nearer and nearer yet again there did as it were Scales come over the Eyes of my Understanding and I became as other ignorant ungodly People In the multitude hurry and confinement of the City I have not had those pure enlightnings and clear communications of God as I have had in mine own native Country and under my Father's Roof and I have several times desired that I might recover and return to that state again and not spend my life upon one thing only which is little more than a continued bringing forth unto trouble But as I do day by day approach nearer and nearer unto this future Life and Immortality so whether I sleep or wake am busie or idle my Thoughts may be always thereupon and be more lively concerning it and I may be still reaching forth after it Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God 2 Pet. 3. 12. Whether we do think thereof or not we do continually run yea and fly towards it But hereby the Holy Ghost doth teach and instruct us That tho' we do move so fast towards it yet we should prevent it in our Thoughts so we should think more continually and earnestly as we come nearer in time and see the day approaching And this should not be a vain speculation nor a meer thought only but we should still be upon the inquiry and examination What we must do to be saved And that we give all diligence to make our calling and election sure that so an entrance may be ministred unto us abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ still making Heaven sure unto our selves and endeavouring to make it yet more sure The Life which I now live is by faith in the Son of God and so when God and Christ do act altogether in us and our whole Business is to please and approve our selves unto them Religion and our future being is all in all of our Concern and all our Works and Doings are brought in subordination under that then we are Servants of God and Christians indeed Tho' I have known such after the flesh yet henceforth I know them no more nor yet will I walk after the manner of the flesh nor after the manner of the world nor yet after the way of childhood youth vanity or jesting We should renounce the things that savour of men nor make mention of them within our Lips The Holy Ghost saith by the mouth of Micah Arise ye and depart for this is not your rest because it is polluted chap. 2. 10. This expression is in allusion to Shepherds who after they have fed one place well and throughly with their Flocks and their feet have trodden spoiled or made the Pastures to smell then they remove to a fresh place and ground So after we have throughly done the Business of Life in such a thing we should not still stick in that but press further to the higher and greater Concern The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her they shall pitch their tents against her round about they shall feed every one in his place Jer. 6. 3. And when they have so done for some time they take up and remove to another It is said in the following Verse Wo unto us for the day goeth away for the shadows of the evening are stretched out If we have not done our task nor the work appointed for us whilst we were here on this Earth our Master in Heaven will call us to an account Doth the plowman plow all day to sow Isai 28. 24. This would be too laborious and tiresome for when tbe day is far spent as towards two or three of the clock he looks up to the Winter-Sun and concludes it is time to draw off Our God hereby doth instruct us to discretion and teach us that when a great deal of our life is spent and the day of immortality is at hand then let us make the three afore-cited Inferences Arise and depart for this is not your rest Which in the language of the Gospel that brings Immortality to light speaks on this wise The Bridegroom is at hand go forth to meet him Tho' future life and immortality is coming fast enough upon us yet we should run out before to prevent meet and anticipate it I want Words to express it according to the very meaning purport and requiring of the thing As the Soul is just breaking forth out of this Shell of the Body into endless life the Babe should leap in the Womb and move it self before yea and lift and ascend its self up desiring to be there And as the Plowman draws off at such a time of day so we should draw off our Desires not only from the sin and evil for we should be perfectly listless and dead as to them but our desires should be drawn off utterly even from the lawful necessary and indifferent things of this World We should be as if we used them not temperate in all things and get above them The reason of the different actings of Men is according to the diversity of the knowledge that is in them as our Saviour answer'd him who asked a good thing and was doubtful whether he should receive it or not According to thy Faith so be it unto theâ— So as to many future things we are doubtful in the dark or blind as towards them yet
as much exceed the other's who is a Creature and by him made as the whole Ocean doth a single Drop of Water In the 1st and 2d Chapter of Job in the 3d. of Zechariah and in Rev. 12. 10. we see and understand God's superlative and over-ruling Goodness and Equity how he doth moderate the matter and affirm it by the way of Favour and Mercy on the side of Mankind And this is but as talking a little before the Day of Assize an Emblem and Forerunner how he will determine it eternally on their side at the last and great Day of Judgment notwithstanding all the Informations Accusations and Aggravations of Satan And now if there should be any of his Ministers transformed into Ministers of Righteousness alike unto Satan in this who draw up more heavy and false Indictments than the true and very nature of the thing doth require and will bear Or if the Conscience it self which is yet more pressed with Sin and Guilt should fore-cast too grievous things all this will not do one joâ— of harm in the Day of the Lord for he who hath prepared his Throne for Judgment knows all things in the World He shall judge the World in righteousness he shall minister Judgment to the People in uprightness Psal 9. 8. In the new Translation it is said He shall minister true Judgment to the People Who weighs the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance He will make things to hang even exact and equal Judgment will I lay to the Line and Righteousness to the Plummet Isai 28. 17. He shall judge the World with Righteousness and the People with his Truth Psal 96. 13. With Righteousness shall he judge the World and the People with equity Psal 98. 9. Now Equity is a mild thing which doth state moderate and adjust a matter And then after all God doth reserve Mercy even after Judgment and Condemnation for that is its proper place At the last Day Mercy shall rejoice against Judgment in such a signal eminent great and universal a manner even as to swallow up all Judgment in Victory When I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done saith the Lord God Ezek. 16. 63. When this Song shall be sung Thou hast taken away all thy Wrath thou hast turn'd thy self from the fierceness of thine Anger Psal 85. 3. God is more merciful than ever it entred into the Heart to conceive or the Ear hath heard that as it is written at the first Creation The Morning-Stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for joy Job 38. 7. Now compare this with Isai 14. â—2 Lucifer is there called Son of the Morning so that if ever he sang for joy it was before he fell from Heaven And it is both possible and probable that for joy when he was first brought forth into being he might sing a Song of Praise and Acknowledgment unto the great Creator of all Things And so if we look back to Gen. 6. 2 4. There we find the wicked and ungodly of the World styled The Sons of God for so they are by Creation and Workmanship This was fresh and soon after the Creation for we never as I know of find them so called again throughout all Scripture So that by what may be gathered from Psal 104. 30 31. Thou renewest the face of the Earth The Lord shall rejoice in his Works So at the very last upshot and end of all things Goodness Equity and Mercy will display and manifest that that if so be the Morning Stars may not again sing together and all the Sons of God observe that Particle all including both the Sons by Creation as well as those by Grace and Adoption may not shout together for joy yet at least it may be somewhat more tolerable than that certain fearful looking for of Judgment and the fiery Indignation Heb. 10. 27. or when they did believe and tremble Jam. 2. 19. They must indeed undergo the devouring Fire for all Scripture must be fulfilled and they must see and suffer also which in probability will be throughout a much longer duration than the time was in which the Mosaical Institutions did last which were said to be a Statute for ever or as it is written That the Ordinances of Day and Night shall not cease while the Earth remaineth Gen. 8. 23. Which Earth in the Book of Psalms is said to be established for ever Psal 78. 69. Again it is written If those Ordinances depart from before me saith the Lord then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a Nation before me for ever Jer. 31. 36. And yet the Seed of Israel doth at this day seem to cease to be a Nation as it is yet more certain that this Earth at last shall pass away and the Ordinances of Day and Night shall then also cease and come to an utter end But God only knows what may succeed after all this when those miserable Creatures have lain under condemnation and punishment a much longer space of duration than six or seven thousand Years now within which time all this lower Creation and the Works thereof in probability will be determined and finished God will look down from the height of his Sanctuary when the Psalmist spoke thus by the Spirit it was then to come from Heaven will the Lord behold the Earth yea and who knows whether he will behold yet lower If I make my Bed in Hell behold thou art there To hear the groaning of the Prisoner to loose those that are appointed to death Psal 102. 19 20. In the Margin there it is Children of Death This one portion of Scripture is of more worth than ten thousand Worlds If any thing of good or mitigation is intended to them it will come in upon this account That they are the Creatures of God and his Workmanship The Lord shall rejoice in his Works and they shall reciprocally rejoice in the Lord their God If those very Creatures who seem rejected Heb. 12. 17. and hated Rom. 9. 13. by him can but then call upon him by the Name of the Lord and lay hold on him as Esau did with his Father Isaac compare Gen. 27. 34 38. with Heb. 12. 16 17. And when Esau heard the Words of his Father he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry and said unto his Father Bless me even me O my Father Here he continues and keeps up and puts in mind of the Relation After his Excuse and Answer had still he doth continue and repeat and again double the Words of his Relation Hast thou but one Blessing Bless me even me also O my Father and Esau lift up his voice and wept So it may be conceived of those condemned forlorn and miserable Creatures that after they have been long in wailing and gnashing of Teeth with howling and great crying if they can but then call upon Him by the Name of Creator and remember and lay it before