45. I form the Light and create Darkness I make Peace and creat Evill I the Lord do all these things And in the 54 of the same Prophecy Behold I have created the Smith that bloweth the Coals in the fire Es 54 17. and him that bringeth forth an Instrument for his work and I have created the Destroyer to destroy Destruction cometh from the Instrument the Instrument from the Smith the Smith and all from this great Wise and Almighty Governour of Heaven and Earth who rideth upon the Heavens as upon a Horse and by his power ruleth the raging of the Seas the noise of his Waves and the madness of the people Away therefore with these Abominations let them not be once named amongst us as becometh Saints That they should indeed be found among the Heathen it is no marvel But alas alas that such as make their boast of Jesus Christ and are ready alwaies by a verbal profession to ascribe unto him the Governance of the World should be thus besotted so impiously by their practice to derogate from him and that under so clear and glorious a Light as now shineth What Tongue or Pen can express it without a bitter Lamentation Again are not the great Repinings and Murmurings which are to this very day found amongst factious Separatists against the most remarkable and reiterated Dispensations of Heaven in the Restauration of our Civil Government according to the ancient Constitution of this Realm a great dishonour unto Jesus Christ As if he were to be directed by such poor Worms how to sway his Scepter and to manage his Power It was an Atheistical word of that wretched Alphonsus King of Spain who said That if he had stood by Christ when he created the World he would have shewed him how to order it better then now it is And is it not now I beseech you a sin of a high nature by continued grudgings at these Revolutions that have come upon us in effect to spurn at Divine Providence and to quarrel the Government of Christ because it is not according to some mens humours and expectations Princes of the earth we know do usually love to maintain their unlimitedness and Prerogative which is due unto them and do not like it that any should make a Scrutiny into the secret of their Sovereignty How much more should poor dust and ashes beware of prying into or descanting upon the Prerogative of Heaven The Lord Jesus Christ will certainly notwithstanding all the unkinde Recalcitrations of sinful men continue still to be the same in guiding and governing and preserving the World according to that wise and holy Decree which hath been enacted from all Eternity he will shake and over-turn root up and pull down and build and plant again as seemeth good unto him and that by such waies and means and instruments which though they may seem strange and harsh unto flesh and blood shall serve in the end to make the Beauty of his Providence the more glorious Here therefore give me leave a little to treat with these discontented people Do ye well to be angry And will you be angry still Will you draw out your anger to all Generations Surely it will be folly and shame unto you for Anger resteth in the bosom of fools Ec. 7.9 saith Solomon And what alas are you angry for Is it as it is to be seared it is because you are crost in the promoting of such a temporal Interest which you had contrived which yet according to your own principles is not of an absolute concernment to the Kingdom of God Or whom are you angry with Is it the persons of men that have been instrumental in bringing to pass this great Alteration that is come upon us A small matter it seems will make you angry and as vain and fruitless will the success of your anger be unto you There was as it hath been observed a certain people in Affrick who being troubled with the North-wind driving heaps of Sand upon their fields and dwelling places they gathered an Army of men to fight against it but with so ill success that themselves were also buried under Hills of sands Xerxes the Persian Monarch having received a loss by the rage of Hellespontus himself more mad then the Sea caused Fetters and Manicles to be cast into the waters thereof as if he would make it his prisoner and binde it with links of Iron at his pleasure Darius did the like upon the River Gynde when it had drowned him a white Horse he threatned the River to divide it into so many streams and so to weaken the strength of it that a woman great with child should go over it dry-shod It is not unlike as the said Authour makes the Comparison to the folly of our daies some people must not be cross'd but will fall to murmuring and repining But as God asketh Sennacherib Whom hast thou railed upon or whom hast thou blasphemed So may these be asked Whom are ye angry with who hath displeased you Are you angry with the Saw or with him that lifteth it What is Aaron that you murmure at him And for a conclusion hereof consider well that place of the Prophet Es 40.22 c Es 40.22 23. It is he for in the sequel you shall find that your anger reacheth at him that sitteth upon the Circle of the earth and the Inhabitants thereof are as Grashoppers That stretched out the Heavens as a Curtain and spreadeth them out as a Tent to dwell in That bringeth the Princes to nothing much more Usurpers he maketh the Judges of the earth as vanity who saith and who shall contradict him Yea they shall not be planted yea they shall not be sowen yea their stock shall not take root in the earth he shall also blow upon them and they shall wither away and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble Let therefore the advice of the Prophet prevail with you who saith Ps 75.5.6 7. Lift not up your horn on high speak not with a stiff neck for promotion cometh neither from the East nor from the West nor from the Desart but God is the Judge he putteth down and setteth up another And say not any more how comes it to pass that God hath brought this turn upon us that our Mountain which was made so strong and from which we thought never to be removed is now utterly overthrown that destruction cometh upon destruction Where is that Providence that ruleth all things For you do not enquire wisely concerning these matters Stand still rather and see the Salvation of God Surely Destructions are come to a perpetual end their memorial shall be perished with them For why Jesus Christ is the same still in guiding governing and preserving the whole Creation and will so continue unto the end Besides these before-mentioned there are sundry others also who disclaim Christ's Sovereignty over them Such are the Covetous the Ambitious the Proud the Worldly
the Same Yesterday to Day and for ever Fourthly We may upon the Consideration of this Doctrine see how absurd and foolish that Dream is of a certain Vbi a Place of confinement for the Souls of the Faithful who lived and died Yesterday in that long tract of time under the Law and before it which place is by the Papists called Limbus Patrum for in regard the work of Redemption was not fully accomplished by Jesus Christ till he had suffered Death upon the Cross therefore say they all those Patriarchs and Prophets and Holy men of old from the beginning of the World unto that time could not enter into Heaven but were shut up in some lower parts of the Earth bordering upon Purgatory which say they is next door to Hell For saith Bishop Mountague as if some of their Masters had been soon sent thither to take a survey thereof they do quarter out that infernal Clime into four Regions And this place amongst the rest which they have assigned unto the Fathers they determine to be the uppermost Fringe as the Word Limbus signifies or the verge of Hell It is not my purpose to descend so low as to examine the particulars of this their Subterraneous Chorography I believe the Vanity thereof is Visible enough to all that have not their Eyes put out with the smoke of Purgatory Rather let the strength of our present Doctrine be set in opposition to this fond dream of that false and Apostatical Church of Rome which hath obtruded many such like idle Fopperies upon those poor people that are bewitched with her Sorceries and then let all mankinde judge which is the Truth True it is Bishop Mountague of Nor. they make much boast of Antiquity in the upholding of this their fabulous Limbo though as learned an Antiquary as any possiby that ever was in their Conclave affirmeth that Antiquity will not own it Nevertheless if it should it shall be of no Value with us if it clash with the Divine Oracles of the Holy Scriptures They tell us that the Souls of the godly are in the bundle of Life with the Lord their God 1 Sam. 25.29 1 Sam. 25.29 Ec. 12.7 And that the spirit returns unto God that gave it Ec. 12.7 That the Soul of Lazarus was carried by the Angels who always behold the face of God in Heaven Mat. 18.11 into Abrahams Bosome Luk. 16. Luk. 16.22 And therefore it is well observed against the Rhemists upon that place that Limbo being supposed to be under the Earth and Lazarus's Soul from Earth was carried upwards If he went to Limbo the Angels were not well acquainted with the Way in that they carry him above the Earth when they ought to have carried him to a place underneath the Earth Add hereunto what a world of Absurd ities would follow if this Pepish devise should pass for currant Act. 15.11 How could Saint Peter say Act. 15. We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they Luk. 20.38 How could the Patriarchs be said to live with God if they were banished out of his Sight Luk. 20. And if this Limbo be the Brim or Hem of the damned places how is it said that the Glutton in Hell saw Abraham afar off with Lazarus in his Bosome and that there was a great Gulfe and Distance between the Damned's place and that wherein Lazarus abode As for Abraham it may be collected clearly from Heb. 11.9.10 that he immediately after Death was received up into Heaven Heb. 11 9.10 according to his expectation Contented he was with his flitting Tabernacles while he continued as a Sojourner here in this Life because there was a City to come after this Life that would be firm and steddy wherein he looked to be admitted and which should make full amends for all his wearisome Peregrinations Where we may see that that City having Foundations which the Holy Patriarch by Faith expected is by an Antithesis set ad oppositum to those Tabernacles which he formerly lived in with Isaac and Jacob whereby is intimated that he was not received into any other building after his death then that which is permanent Into which City he being received it must necessarily follow that all the faithful people of God who were transported by Angels into his Bosome as Lazarus was were there received and entertained likewise Moreover because this Parable is much perverted by the Papists to their sinister sense when Abraham opposeth Lazarus's Comfort to the Glutton's Torment it is evident that he being in infinite Torment the other was in infinite Joy which because it cannot be but in Heaven A term appropriated by the Holy Ghost to the Ages of the Church before Christ But not fit to be used now in the time of the Gospel Gerard. Rom. 5.15 as in the Lord's Presence-Chamber it followeth that the †Bosome of Abraham is the Rest that his faithful and right begotten Children have in Heaven In fine That which chiefly I have to say against this absurd errour is this viz. That it derogateth from the Merits of Jesus Christ making him not to be of yesterday and his death to be effectual onely à parte post to those that come after him An Opinion therefore to be Anathematized by all the Churches of the Saint yea further the Sin of Adam is by this means contrary to the Doctrine of the Apostle Rom. 5.15 made more powerful to Condemnation then Christ's Righteousness can be unto Salvation for the Sin of Adam casteth his Wicked and Unbelieving Posterity into Hell immediately after Death whereas by their Doctrine the Communication of Christ's Righteousness with them that believed in him could not immediately after Death lift them up into the Kingdom of Heaven How this can stand with Christ's honour or how it agreeth with the aforesaid Scripture let the Jesuites themselves tell us if they can Objection Well but yet the Scripture notwithstanding they affirm will bear them out in this their opinion for saith the Apostle Heb. 9.8 The way into the Holiest of all was not made manifest while as the first Tabernacle was yet standing Heb. 9.8 Upon which place these Limbonians do much harpe for the maintenance of their foolish errour collecting as they think very strenuously that the way to Heaven was not open before Christ's Passion and therefore the Patriarchs and good men of old must needs have some other place of rest assigned unto them for their abode until that time Solution A short Answer to a vain Cavil may suffice briefly then let it be observed The Apostle saith not the way to Heaven was shut up while the first Tabernacle was standing but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was not yet clearly manifested Whereby he gives us to understand that the people of God under the Old Testament knew the way to Heaven but darkly viz. through the vail of Types But withall that they knew there was
manifest X. Episcopal Government in the Church proved by Scripture to be of Divine Right XI The Liturgy of the Church of England cleared from Superstition XII The Church of Rome justly charged with Novelty XIII A Remedy prescribed to cure the Distempers of our Nation and Times about Order and Church-Government The Contents more particularly and more punctually described THe Apostles intent and scope in the words of the Text viz. Jesus Christ the Same yesterday to day and for ever is rendred page 1. A threefold interpretation given of the Text p. 4. 1. With a respect to the Divine Nature 2. With a reference to the whole Creation 3. With a more especial respect to the Church An Apology for these several interpretations ibid. The first Interpretation Proved by Scripture and the concurrent Testimony of sundry Authours p. 5. Objections answered First taken from Prov. 8.22 c. p. 11. Second taken from Luk. 1.35 p. 13. Third taken from Col. 1.15 ibid. Instructions deducted viz. First Though Christ took upon him our nature yet he continued still to be the Same p. 19 Secondly We must give unto Christ the glory due unto his Name p. 21. 1. In worshipping him with Divine Adoration p. 21. 2. In a zealous appearance for him against his enemies p. 23. Of whom there are two sorts especially in these times that must not be spared viz. Those 1. Who raise up men above their proper sphaere equallizing them with Christ p. 24. 2. Who level the Lord Jesus with poor dust and ashes p. 25. 3. In the ready hearkening to the voyce of his Word p. 28. Corroboratives of this Argument 1. The Father will have Christ to be thus honoured p. 29. 2. Christ himself expects of us the same service ibid. 3. The Eternity of Christ is a clear evidence of his Wisdome and Gravity ibid. 4. A necessity lyes upon us to hearken to this his infallible Wisdome p 30. How else shall we escape the snares of Satan What improvement can we make of our Talents in our masters service p. 31. 5. He hath highly honoured us ibid. Thirdly how God hath been wont to make manifest his sore displeasure against those that have been the professed enemies of the eternal Deity of his beloved Son the Lord Jesus Christ p. 33. A particular Application p. 37. The second Interpretation p. 41. Wherein it is observed how Christ is the Same 1. In the work of Creation 2. In the work of Preservation 3. In the work of Restauration How in the work of Creation p 42. Though Jesus Christ be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therein yet the Father and the Holy Ghost are not excluded 1. Christ is equal with the Father in that eternal Counsel and Decree from whence all things had their first rise and origination 2. The Same in the execution of that Decree 3. The Same without any Coadjutor 4. The Same without any variableness in the creating of all things Inferences from hence First this may lead us to a further knowledge of Jesus Christ p. 47. When we consider the Heavens p. 48. When we consider the Deep p. 49. When we consider the Earth ibid. When we consider our selves p. 50. We must say O Lord our Lord How excellent is thy Name Secondly we are to let Jesus Christ enjoy peaceably without any repining his absolute Sovereignty over all the earth to dispose of it as seemeth good unto him p. 50. How Jesus Christ is the Same in the work of Preservation and Government of the world p. 52. An Objection answered viz. If this Power belongeth unto Christ to guide and govern the world What need is there at all of any other government p. 54. In answer hereunto three things are largely proved First Government by men is an Ordinance of Divine appointment p. 57. Secondly Government is ordained to be subservient unto Christ p. 62. Thirdly Christ will have this subservient government and order to be continued so long as the world endureth p. 66 The folly of Fift-Monarchy men is made manifest p 70. A conviction of those that look no further then secondary causes p. 71. They who applaud their Fortune in their successes are reproved ibid. They also who consult with Astrologers p. 72. And that run to Witches for their help ibid. That when extraordinary tempests are raised are apt to impute the cause thereof to Conjuring p. 73. Such as murmure at the happy change which the Divine Providence hath brought upon this Nation p. 74. A conviction of sundry others who in effect disclaim Christs Sovereignty over them p. 76. viz. The Covetous The Ambitious The Proud and Vain-glorious The Profane Politician An Instruction to all that fear God not to be dismayed at the appearance and apprehension of death p. 78. Nor at the troubles that come upon the world or that may befall themselves p. 80. A lesson to incline us to a constant dependance upon Divine Providence p. 81. We are nothing without Christ ibid. How Jesus Christ is the Same in the Restauration of all things p. 82. In order hereunto the Apostles words in Rom. 8.19.20.22.23 are at large expounded p. 83. Where is to be seen how 1. The creature is subject to vanity p. 84. It hath lost a great part of its primitive beauty and goodness p. 85. A necessity lyes upon it to serve the enemies of the Creatour ibid It is still declaring the glory of God but man regards it not ibid. It is troubled at the inverting of the order which the Creatour at first established p. 86. It is instrumental in mans sin ibid. 2. The creature waiteth and groaneth to be delivered p. 87. 3. When this Deliverance shall be p. 89. viz. When the Son◠of God that is the Angels are manifested ibid. Which manifestation shall be both active and passive p. 90. Active four several ways They shall break open the chambers of Death 90 They shall manifest the Saints from the wicked ibid. They shall manifest the judgement pronounced ibid. They shall be employed in the manifestation of the Son of man p. 91. Passive two ways In respect of their Nature p. 92. In respect of their Number ibid. 4. The manner of their deliverance p. 93. An Objection out of 2 Pet. 3.10 concerning the dissolution of all things by fire answered p. 95. Fift monarchists and Millenaries reproved p. 103. See the excellencie of our Creation p. 105. A light to guide us in the first resurrection p. 106. A light to shew unto us somewhat of the glory of the second p. 107. Wherein may be seen 1. How the new heaven that shall be is resembled unto Canaan p. 109. 2. How the new earth that shall be is also so resembled p. 112. The third Interpretation viz. Jesus Christ is the Same yesterday to day and for ever with a more especial respect unto his Church p. 116. First of yesterday that is p. 117. All the time of the old Testament A Doctrine here-hence derived viz. The
against Jesus Christ and the vain Sophistry of such as are seduced by him may somewhat appear it will not be amiss to answer two or three Objections which among many other have been forged in Hell against this comfortable and fundamental Doctrine Object 1 First That of Solomon Pro. 8.22 c. is much perverted by them to the derogation of Christ's honour and their own destruction It is indeed as the Centurists tell us the foundation whereon the Arrians and other Hereticks would build their Blasphemy but that it proves a burthensom stone unto them and grinds them to powder for the words of the Holy Ghost in that place do fully prove the co-eternity of Christ with the Father as it shall here evidently appear Wisdom that is the Lord Jesus Christ as the Arrians themselves do confess is there pleading her Pedigree and Extraction to the sons of men Pro. 8.22 which might demonstrate her Antiquity to the end that she might the better incline them to give ear to her instruction The Lord said she possessed me in the beginning of his way What that way is is not for us to search into for look how high the Heaven is in comparison of the Earth so are his waies far above our waies Es 55.9 Es 55.9 Before his Works of old I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the earth was c. c. The meaning whereof in short is this I the Son was with the Father before the Creation and in the Creation of the world when he formed this great Fabrick with all the parts of it in his eternal purpose according to the good pleasure of his will and when he framed it likewise and gave it a being rearing up this glorious and beautiful Structure answerable to the pattern which I had seen with him in the Mount Now therefore having laid down the premisses she brings her inference V. 32. Hearken unto me Oye children c. This being the proper sense of the place what can our Adversaries make of it to the maintenance of their errour To pass by what the Jews and Samosatenian Hereticks say of it the former conceiving most absurdly that by Wisdom in that place is understood the Law which as they say was ordained two thousand years before the World was made to be the beginning of God's waies because they find in the 30. Verse two words which signifie two daies which they interpret to be two thousand years because a day with God is as a thousand years But this is such a dotage that the very reciting of it carrieth with it a Refutation The latter affirming that this Scripture is not to be understood of Christ but of the Virtue of God whereby all things were in the beginning created and ever since uphold and sustained In which Assertion they discover nothing so much as their impotent malice against the Lord Jesus For what is that Virtue or Wisdom of God but Christ the Son of God Luke 11.49 as appears Luke 11.49 1 Cor. 1.24 And if Satan had not blinded their eyes they might have seen that the very same operations which are by Solomon ascribed to the wisdom of God are elsewhere attributed to Christ the Son of God Heb. 1.2 Col. 1.17 But the Arians a more subtle Generation acknowledging the words as hath been said to be spoken of Jesus Christ yet took hold of this very Scripture using it as their Argumentum Achilleum to undermine the eternal Godhead of Christ for upon all occasions would they stil resort unto this even as the Papists do for their Transubstantiation to the words of our Saviour Mat. 26. And accordingly would the Orthodox appear in the vindication of it Cem. 4. cap. 10. From whence arose many sore troubles to the Church and frequent fierce controversies in those elder times If it be demanded Q how this Scripture which is so clear against them can be so much perverted by them I answer A. It is very well known that the word in the 22. Verse which is rendred in our Translation Possessed me was by the Septuagint translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Created me making the Verse to run thus The Lord created me in the beginning of his way And thereupon did these wretched Hereticks with open mouths most impudently proclaim to the World their cursed errour which was That Jesus Christ who is here called Wisdom is a creature and not the eternal begotten Son of God the Father This in short was the rise of this Cavil which may easily be removed by these following Answers First That Translation of the Septuagint though it be of great Antiquity and much account in the Church yet it is not Authentick not being given by the immediat Inspiration of God and therefore too weak a foundation to bear up an Opinion in a point of faith which is not warrantable from the word of Truth Secondly It is possible that that Greek Translation might be right enough at first but might since either of purpose or casually by reason of the affinity of words be depraved that is that whereas they had rendred it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with an Eta from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 possiden that is Possessed me it was afterwards either by some deceitful or inconsiderate hand turned to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with an Iota from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Created me Thirdly If it were so or not so is it not a thing much to be lamented that poor worms of the earth should so presumptuously descant on the Dignity and Prerogative Royal of the Son of God yea depose him from the Throne of his Glory upon the account of a small Title only which it not of any moment whether it be taken one way or other for the Original word as it seems had anciently both significations viz. To Possess and to Create Fourthly Some Writers both Ancient and Modern do give an answer hereunto in this manner The Eternal Generation of the Son of God is sometimes called Generation and sometimes Creation because it is so ineffable that it cannot fully be expressed by any one word for Generation signifieth a Production in the same substance but with a certain mutation in the Begetter but Creation signifieth a Production of another substance yet without any mutation of the Creatour Now the Son of God is so produced as that he receiveth the substance of the Begetter and therefore in that respect he is said to be Begotten but he receiveth it without any mutation or alteration of the Begetter and therefore in that respect he may be said to be Created not that his Eternity should thereupon be called in question or that he should be thought to be a Creature but that from both these words we might receive what was fitting and reject what seemeth to be unfit in the right understanding of this unexplicable Mystery This Answer being pertinent to the matter in hand I have
that put their trust in him The second Interpretation of the TEXT Jesus Christ is the same yesterday to day and for ever In a reference to the whole CREATION Adsis O JESV HEnce it is that Christ calls himself the Alpha and Omega Rev. 1.11 the first and the last Being so in this sense as well as in that before-mentioned The first because he is before all things and by him all things consist Col. 1.16 The last Col. 1.16 in that he is after all things Or He shall stand the last on the earth as that place of Job may be rendred or with the last Job 19.25 Es 41.4 Col. 3.11 as the Prophet phraseth it that is continuing with or ruling this whole World to the end of it He is All and in all saith the Apostle in point of eternal salvation all meritoriously all efficiently all sufficiently so likewise is he All and in all in respect of the World and the Creatures therein for all had been nothing without him and all would fall to nothing without him the same good hand of his Power running constantly without the least Retractation or Interstitium through the whole from first to last which clearly demonstrates him what the Text proclaims him to be viz. The same yesterday to day and for ever That is The same in the work of Creation The same in the work of Preservation The same in the work of Restauration According to this triple Distribution of Time here in the Text Yesterday to day and for ever Let us therefore now consider these distinctly by themselves that we may so far as God shall be pleased to enable us take an exact view of the unchangeable power of the Lord Jesus in order to the Creatures CHAP I. How the Text is Applicable to Christ in the work of Creation JEsus Christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same mighty God or the only He as the word signifies in the work of Creation he is that great Jehovah as it hath been made to appear that Ens entium The beginning of the Creation of God Rev. 3.14 Not in a Passive sense but Active that giveth a Being to all Creatures Therefore when this Jehovah saith of himself Es 48.12 I am he Es 48.12 I am the first I am also the last He presently inferreth Mine hand hath laid the foundations of the earth and my right hand hath spanned the Heavens when I call them they stand up together Ob. But we are to believe will some say according to the Tenor of our Creed that the Father is the Creatour of Heaven and Earth Sol. I answer True but that is not to be taken exclusively of the Son and of the Holy Ghost for as there is a Divine Order between the Persons in the Trinity so this Order is the same towards the Creatures as it is amongst themselves Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa Talis agendo qualis existendo The same in working as in their existency one with another the Father is of himself the Son is of the Father the Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son so first the Counsel and Decree of the Father precedeth then the Son produceth that Decree into Act P.R. the Jesuit in his Treatise of Mitigati on against Dr. Morton tels us that Bellarmine Valentia c. Charge Calvin with Arianism for holding that Christ as he is the second person of the Trinity cannot properly be called the Creatour of Heaven and Earth for that say they implieth that he is not God nor equal to his Father Heb. 1.2 then the Holy Ghost maketh it effectual to all those ends and purposes for which it was ordained not as if there were any priority among them either in respect of Dignity or Time but the only wise God being the God of Order and delighting therein this Order is held in all proceedings amongst those three Heavenly Estates as it were who are not either in their Actions or Existence subordinate one to another but only co-ordinate one with another Excellently therefore according to this Rule is this Order in the work of Creation described by Arnobius an Orthodox Writer of the Fourth Century Ipse dixit facta sunt hoc est per verbum Dei facta sunt Patre loquente Filio creante Spiritu Sancto animante He spake and it was done that is By the Word of God were the Heavens and the Earth finished and all the Host of them by the Breath of his Mouth the Father decreeing the Son creating the Holy Ghost quickning Or as Basil the Great at the same time sweetly interprets it In creatione cogita principalem causam corum quae fiâ—nt Patrem conditricem Filium perfectricem Spiritum Sanctum In the work of Creation ever conceive the first Mover thereof to be the Father the working cause to be the Son the perfecting to be the Holy Ghost True it is the Father is said to work by the Son for by him that is the Son saith the Apostle Heb. 1.2 God made the World yet that will not necessarily imply as the Arians impiously construe it that the Son is only ministerial or instrumental to the Father herein as a Servant is to his Lord for this Preposition Per doth sometimes also signifie the very primary efficient cause of a thing that is acted or done v.g. A man may be said per liberum arbritrium by his free-will to undertake a Design his will though cannot be counted as his Instrument in the matter he undertakes but it is the efficient Mover of his undertaking And when a work-man per rationem Idaeam Artis that is by his skill doth perfect some rare artificial Piece we do not say that his Reason or Skill was either his Tool or his Servant that he used in his Work but the very Spring or Principle from whence the Work received its full and whole composure and formality which is so far from being an Impeachment of the Work-mans credit that it rather tends to his greater glory So when the Father is said by the Son to create the World the Son is not thereby subjected to the form of a Servant unto the Father as he was when he undertook to redeem the World but is declared thereby to be in all points 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Co-worker with him as the efficient cause of the Creation to the glory of the Father 1 Cor. 1.24 he being the wisdom of God and the power of God as saith the Apostle And yet to make this clearer we shall find that the said Preposition is in Scripture sometimes used with a reference also even unto the Father v.g. 1 Cor. 1.9 God is faithful 1 Cor. 1.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son 2 Cor. 1.1 And 2 Cor. 1.10 Paul calls himself an Apostle of Jesus Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the will of
God Whereby surely is not meant that the Father is subservient in either of these respects but the first Mover and efficient cause in both so is the Son also in the work of Creation though the Father is said to work by him for he saith John 5.17 My Father worketh hitherto and I work John 5.17.19 And what things soever the Father doth these do the Son likewise V. 19. As the Father therefore is the sole Creatour of all things so in like manner is the Son John 10.30 because the Father and the Son are both one the Father by the Son and the Son from the Father excluding only all Creatures in Heaven or in Earth from having any concurrency herein To conclude Peter Lombard's sense concerning this Point or rather S. Chrysostom's quoted by him will give us some clear light in this Mystery and it is indeed well worthy to be remembred by us The Father Lib. 2. Dist 13. saith he worketh by the Son Quia tum genuit omnium opificem Because he begat him in that ineffable and eternal Generation the Creatour of all things and if the Father be the cause of the Son secundum quod Pater est As he is Father much more is he the cause of those Creatures which are created by the Son Hence it appeareth John 5.26 that as the Father hath life in himself and hath given to the Son to have life in himself so the Father hath this honour soo modo ordine In his glorious Rank and Order to be the Creatour of all things and he hath given to the Son in his order likewise to be the Creatour too the like we may say also of the Holy Ghost in his Order Since then it is the priviledge of the Son by virtue of his Divine Generation to be entituled to this Honour in an equality with the Father let him be as the Apostle calleth him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Bringer forth of every Creature Col. 1.15 And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Authour the Beginner Rev. 3.14 the Prince of the whole Creation the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he and none but he He it was that stretched forth the Heavens alone Es 44.24 Psal 104.9 Ps 147.4 and did spread abroad the Earth by himself he made his Angels Spirits and his Ministers a flaming fire He telleth the number of the Stars and calleth them all by their names or as it is rendred Giveth names unto them He prepared the Light and the Sun Ps 74.16 Ps 104.19 Job 38.28 29. Job 38.22 Ps 135.7 Ps 33.7 Ps 24.1 the Moon also he appointed for seasons And what Father hath the Rain but he Or who but he hath begotten the drops of Dew Out of whose Womb came the Ice And the hoary Frost of Heaven who but he hath gendred it He created the treasures of the Snow the Hail and the Wind and he laid up the Depth in Storehouses The Earth is his and the fulness thereof whether it be in the Surface or in the Bowels of it the round World and they that dwell therein In fine the Apostle sums up altogether Col. 1.16 By him were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in the Earth visible and invisible Col. 1.16 whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers all things were created by him and for him And the Evangelist agrees in the same account saying All things were made by him John 1.3 and without him was not any thing made that was made Thus was Jesus Christ Yesterday that is in the beginning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the only he in the work of Creation He himself undertook it without the assistance of Angels whom Saturnius Basilides Cent 2. cap 5. and other Hereticks of old would obtrude upon him to be his Co-agents in the Work And he was likewise the same in carrying on his work there was no variableness in him whilest he continued in it exercising his Divine Artifice and Dexterity in the Magnitude Variety Multitude Distinction Order Harmony of his Creatures which he produced one day after another till all was finished At which time he look'd upon all with much complacency and delight beholding the Travel that he had gone over and was satisfied therewith not retracting the least thing that had passed through his fingers for he was not ashamed of his Work but set his Seal unto the whole giving this Testimony of it That it was all very good Gen. 1.31 With men indeed there is a marvellous mutability in their Works either they are not able to perfect what they begin and so are not the same when they have wearied themselves about their work as they were at first entrance upon it ashamed and vexed to see their expectations frustrated As it was with Solomon after he had stretched forth his uttermost Abilities which in truth surpassed all others to extract the most exquisite Spirits and purest Quintessence for his delight which the variety of the Creatures could afford how miserably alas was he deluded I locked saith he on all the works that my hands had wrought R◠2.11 and on the labour that I had laboured to do and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit Or else they are not wise enough to carry on their Enterprizes to such a progress and maturity as may probably produce any desirable Issue being fain to sit down many times re infectâ even as wise as they began or out of envy they are not willing to impart their Experiments to others Plutarchus in vita Alex. As Alexander would not have Aristotle to publish his Acroamatical Sciences for wherein saith he shall we excel others if those things which thou hast secretly taught us be made common to all O! but the Lord Jesus Christ is the same all along in his Works shewing forth the immutability of his Wisdom Coodness and Power therein for by his Wisdom he made the Heavens and by his Wisdom he made the Worms Gen. 1.25 which though they may be generated by corruption Ps 136.5 Gen. 1.25 yet they had their Original by virtue of the Principles of the first Production caused by that Omnipotent Fiat which gave Being to all things and the smaller the Creature is the more is the Divine Workmanship to be admired both in the shaping and in the using thereof The Hebrews have an opinion as it is observed that Enchanters cannot shew their skill in little things if they be less then a Barley-corn and therefore the Sorcerers of Egypt failed in producing Lice Exod. 8.18 But the Wisdom of the great Creatour is the same in the smallest Creature of the World as in the greatest the organical body of a little Ant is no less to be wondred at then the huge body of Behemoth His goodness also is the same shining clearly throughout the whole Creation It was not out of any need that he began this Work
their period and determination But who is he and where is he that dares put this indignity upon the eternal and immutable Jehovah Will not common experience convince him that the same good hand which created all things hath been ever and still is stretched forth in Upholding and Preserving Whence is it else that amidst such Variety there is such excellent Order still continued Yea that in such Contrariety Confusion doth not break in to the ruine of all Much might here be added to shew the constancy and immutability of Jesus Christ in governing and preserving the World But we shall now contract what might be enlarged The holy Scripture is clear in this matter ascribing unto Christ the power and sovereignty in ruling and preserving the whole Creation By him saith the Apostle Col. 1.17 doth all things consist visible and invisible And the reason as I conceive seems to be there annexed in the former words viz. He is before all things like a Captain in the head of his Army without whom they would be of no force but consume to nothing like a Basis or Foundation in a Building which as it must have a priority in time before the Building so being first laid it upholdeth all that is built upon it To which also the Apostle alludeth Heb. 1. when having made mention of the Worlds being made by Christ he addeth That he upholdeth all things by the word of his power that is his powerful Word which word is very emphatical Heb. 1.3 implying that in the things themselves there is no power no virtue at all for their own preservation but that it is his Rule Order Wisdom alone that keeps the World upright For as in a Structure the stones and other materials cannot subsist in the Building by any qualities or inherent virtues of their own but only by the subsistence which they have upon the Foundation So is it in the World the several Creatures that are therein could never of themselves hold together with that exact Symmetry Comeliness and order that appeareth amongst them but would certainly run headlong to ruine were it not for the mighty Word of command that ruling Virtue which constantly issueth out from Jesus Christ whereby they are upheld and sustained His mighty Power it is alone that upholdeth the Earth that stretcheth out the Heavens that sendeth forth the winds that raiseth up the high and great Waves of the Sea and again saith unto them Peace and be still Yea in the very smallest things is his Power and Providence in governing and ordering the World exercised and made known He it is that maketh the Feather to move Mat. 10.29 30. his mighty hand leadeth the Fly in her way yea more the same force which now shaketh a Leaf if he had sent it against a Mountain it would have turned it up from the foundations and the same strength that bloweth up the Dust if it came against the whole Earth it would shake the bottoms of it For it is not the natural 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Philosopher calls it that is as some interpret it the continual progressive Agitation or perfect Adeption of the Creatures that makes them run on in their course But it is that Omnipotent Arm that gave a Being to all things that ordereth and disposeth the motion of them all as seemeth good unto him And for their parts they are willingly subject unto his commands When he saith Go they go when he saith Come they come when he saith Do this they do it as cheerfully as ever the Centurion's Servant did what his Master appointed him though many times they be put upon Services contrary to their ordinary course and those natural Instructions which they received in the Creation for they are sensible of the power of their Lord and in order to his Glory and their own preservation do unanimously agree that his Wisdom must not be controlled To conclude Ps 36.6 He it is saith the Psalmist that preserveth Man and Beast for he having created all all things therefore must be under his Inspection and Care yea it is his glory and honour to be the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the only He in guiding and governing and preserving the World as well as in creating it which honour we find given unto him by the Prophet Ps 40.26 He that created these things bringeth out their Hoste by number he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might for that he is strong in power not one faileth And when he calleth them Es 48.13 they like dutiful Servants stand up together Es 48 13. We shall not proceed any further in the confirmation of a Point so clear only answer a Cavil conceived and produced in these times through a mis-understanding of the Sovereign power of Christ over the Creatures In which mistake since he did as it is manifest give a Being to the World and thereupon had free liberty to order and govern it as seemed good unto him we shall make it appear they do not only strike at the Mediatory Scepter of the Lord Jesus but at his Wisdom also in the management of his natural Dominion Which being done we shall come to derive some inferences from what hath been said concerning this matter for our further edification Objection If this power say some belongeth unto Christ and to Christ alone to guide and govern the World because he gave a Being unto it why then are men set up in the Throne with him Doth he need helps in Government Or is he like Moses not able himself to bear all the people alone Is he not wise in heart and mighty in strength to manage his own power Doth he govern the whole Hoste of Heaven by his immediate Scepter and must he have Coadjutours in Office with him to rule over men Far be it from us to judge so meanly of this great Preserver of Men. Away therefore with Kings and all the Powers that are upon Earth Down with Magistracy what ever it be that is of a Humane Constitution set up in Competition with him we have no King but Jesus for in him we live and move and have our being To him then alone be Glory for ever Amen Solution Even so Amen Let the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory be ascribed unto him for ever and ever and let all the people say Amen For these things indeed saith The Amen the faithful and true Witness himself he saith it once yea twice once in the Law and a second time in the Gospel without Retractation that Power and Dominion belongeth unto him and whosoever they be that say the contrary That they will not have him to reign over them let them be executed in his presence for Rebels and Traitours So then a hearty Concurrency is readily yielded to the exalting of the Lord Jesus neither shall there be any Name whatsoever in heaven or in Earth named by us at any time to
hath of late been sufficiently cleared by others Mr. Prinn c. Is not the Lord Jesus Christ called the Prince of the Kings of the Earth as being his honour to have those that are of the highest estimation to be Subjects unto him Which being so it should be the desire and ambition of all the people in the world to be ruled by those persons who are entituled to this subjective Regality And when Divine Providence shall with a strong hand and a stretched-out Arm lead them unto it as it hath done us here in this Kingdom and the Nations of our Vicinity for many Generations it will certainly be their sin if they should not submit cheerfully unto it as it was the sin of the people of Israel when they out of a diffidence of Gods care and protection of them and out of an Apish imitation of other Nations would in an unseasonable preposterous and tumultuous manner be catching at it And now all this considered how can a people with any serenity of Conscience profess Godliness and yet speak reproachfully of the Kingly Office yea account it Antichristian as some have done proclaiming open Hostility against it Were it indeed Heterogeneous to the Divine Ordinance of Civil Government or incongruous to the times of the Gospel or prejudicial to the interest of the Saints as it is said to be or an impeachment in the least degree to the Dignity and Prerogative Royal of the Lord Jesus Christ himself either in respect of his Natural or of his Donative Kingdom such persons might proceed upon warrantable grounds to proclaim their dislike in that kind But it may now appear to all the World that the clamour which is raised against Regal Power upon any of these before-named accounts is altogether causeless and of no moment It will not be expedient here to examine them severally for in so doing we should make too large a digression haply we shall meet with them obiter in our way wherein the inadvertency or to say truly the Seditious frowardness rather then the godly zeal of the Authors and Abettors of these Complaints will be made manifest unto all men In the mean time I cannot but protest against that pernicious Paradox which hath been vented by a leading Divine as he was accounted in these late times of Errour and Rebellion amongst us J. O. who in a Sermon preached at S. Margarets Westminster and afterwards Printed saith thus The Lord had of old erected a Kingly Government in the House of David not for any eminency in the Government it self or for the Civil Advantage of that people but that it might be a Type of the Spiritual Dominion of the Messiah and so was a part of their Paedagogy and Bondage as was the residue of their Types every one of them and consequently this form of Government not to be of any use in the time of the Gospel Were this true we then who are now of the Church of God as that people were before us acknowledging this Messiah to be come according to the Promise may indeed have just cause to say of that kind of Government as the Apostle doth of Circumcision If we should allow of it Christ shall profit us nothing the substance being come what should the shadow of a King do unto us But I hope that those who have through the subtlety of Satan been misled into this Opinion will hereafter find cause to retract it when they shall remember that the rule of the Gospel to which they pretend an exact Conformity requires them to pray and to give thanks for Kings which as the Apostle saith is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour 1 Tim. 2.1 2 3. 1 Tim 2.1 2 3. However seeing that Wisdom puts forth her Voice crying at the Gates at the entry of the City at the coming in at the Doors saying By me Kings Reign and Princes decree Justice by me Princes rule and Nobles even all the Judges of the eâ—rth Seeing I say this sound is heard from Heaven every day in the Consciences of men Wisdom will herein be justified of all her children And let this serve to terminate the first part of my Proposition viz. Government is an Ordinance of Divine Authorization Secondly It is ordained to be subservient unto Christ in the dispensation of his power and providence towards the preservation of Mankind 2. Branch For though Christ be All in all Col. 3.11 as the Apostle speaks Col. 3. yet to shew himself to be the Lord of all he hath ordained means to be subservient unto him in all the works of his Providence and hath accordingly made use of them To this purpose saith the Son of Sirach very pertinently Ec. 38.2 3 4 5. Of the most High cometh healing yet the Physician must be honoured with that honour that belongeth unto him The Lord also hath created Medicines out of the Earth and he that is wise will not abhor them He hath given skill unto men that he might be honoured in his marvellous works with such doth he heal men and taketh away their pains of such doth the Apothecary make a Confection c. Hence it is as the Prophet Jeremy speaketh Jer. 23.25 That his Covenant with Day and Night and the Ordinances of Heaven and Earth concerning their disposition motion order influences virtues and operations are inviolable They continue this day saith the Psalmist according to thine ordinance Ps 119.91 for all are thy servants not as if his Paramount Authority and power were thereby any whit diminished rather it is advanced nor as if he were necessitated thereunto for want of power in himself for we may see the course of Heaven c. hath sometimes been inverted by him Indulgentiae est non indigentiae non efficaciam quaerit sed congruentiam Ex. 14.16 John 3.16 2 Reg. 10.1 Dan. 3.25 But of his own free will in the abundance of his goodness it is that he governeth and preserveth Creatures by Creatures using the ministery of second Causes for in their present poor estate wherein they are in this world his own immediate hand and power would soon prove intolerable unto them Who alas among us here can dwell with devouring fire Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings Goodness then and mercy it is that is the ground of this Dispensation from Heaven towards poor creatures of all sorts but there is no creature under the Sun unto whom the Lord hath so much respect as he hath to Mankind all other indeed have their being and their well-being whatsoever it is from him as hath been said before But Man is his Favourite the Masterpiece of his wisdom power and goodness the work of his Faciamus not barely of his Fiat as other Creatures were in him he challengeth a special propriety accounting him his own in a peculiar manner for in that sense I conceive that place of the Evangelist John 1.11 He
the Lord Jesus Christ in order to the preservation of his Creatures A Doctrine it is that is profitable for Conviction for Encouragement and Instruction For conviction of many sinful practises too frequently appearing in these times to the great dishonour of Christ and his Government over the World and for the encouragement and instruction of all the faithful people of God who desire to walk worthy of that preservation which they enjoy under his Government First then this plainly layeth open the gross blindness that hath come upon many who notwithstanding think they see clearly When men will freely acknowledge this great Jehovah the Lord of all to be the sole Fountain of Being unto all Creatures both in Heaven and in Earth And yet in the several changes and revolutions that come upon the World have their thoughts fixed upon second Causes or such it may be as they have framed to themselves not at all regarding the work of the Lord nor the operation of his hands as if he were now no more then a mean Spectatour and had nothing to do in the various Transactions of his Creatures about him How impiously do some after the manner of the Heathen ascribe unto Fortune that good or ill success which attends upon their undertakings It was my good fortune saith one Si fortuna volet fies de Rhetore Conful si volet haec eadem fies de Consule Rhetor that brought me to this Honour to this Estate wherein now I am It was my hard hap saith another that I met with such a cross and that I am fallen into this misery even as the Poet once said If Fortune Will thou may'st of Poor be Consul made And if that will thou must unto thy former Trade This you 'l say is not as becometh Christians but behold yet more Abominations some there are yea too many who when they go about a matter of any great Import either to free themselves from some sad disaster as they call it or to enterprize a Design which they conceive may be for their advantage will usually like unto Heathens for the Scripture notes it as a part of their Infidelity consult with Astrologers a sort of people who if they will keep themselves within their own Sphere would have the Approbation of all that are wise but being excentrick they are the very Pest of a Common-wealth and when the success appeareth their Stars forsooth must be Idoliz'd as the cause of that which doth befal them And how unworthy alas is this of that Faith which we do profess But behold yet greater Abominations It is an Abomination souc'd in the very dregs of Heathenism when people will in time of any loss danger or distress of what kind soever it be not look up to him who is and alwaies was the great Preserver of men and upholdeth all things by the Word of his Power but consult with Witches and Conjurers for a supply and preservation And this alas is too commonly found amongst those that call themselves Christians As for the Heathen they were not ordinarily wont unless it were the ruder sort in plain down-right terms Acheronta movere Ab Aves Aspiciendo that is to seek to the Devil for help They had their Auspicium which was by flying of Birds to divine of their successes And they had their Aruspicium by looking into the Entrails of Beasts appointed for Sacrifice Ab Aras Inspiciendo Ezek. 21.21 to the same purpose as it is said of the King of Babylon that he looked into the Liver Ezek. 21.21 when he took up a Divination for Jerusalem They had also their Tripudium taking a conjecture of what should befall them by the rebounding of Corn thrown upon the ground to Chickens Quasi terripudium seu terripavium from whence the Southsayer was called Pullarius And their Augurium which was a Prediction from the chirping or chattering of Birds as also by the founds and voices which they heard they knew not whence Ab Avium Garritu All which and many more though abominable enough yet were not so bad as knowingly and willingly to seek for a remedy or supply so directly from the Devil which they do that consult with those who they are assured have for such ends and purposes made a compact with him To all whom it may be said is it because there is not a Divine Providence that ordereth and governeth the World nor a power in Heaven to help and to deliver Or rather is it not because you are faithless and have no confidence in this great Preserver of men that you betake your selves to the Devil and his Angels for help A most wicked and Atheistical Generation who deny the Lord that bought them and run a whoring after Satan to worship him with a most execrable Idolatry For it may well be said such persons they revolt from God to the Devil howsoever they plaister up their impiety with untempered Mortar as that they seek Gods help though by the means of the Magician But terrible is that threatning which the Lord hath denounced against these wretched people Lev. 20.6 The Soul that turueth after such as have familiar Spirits and after Wizzards to go a whoring after them I will even set my face against that Soul and will cut him off from among my people Bishop King upon Jonas Add unto this that common foolish Opinion as a reverend Bishop of our times hath well observed and I shall render it in his own words If ever Tempest arise more then common experience hath enured us unto especially with the havock and loss either of life or limb in our Selves our Cattel or Housings forthwith the judgment is given as if the Lord of Heaven and Earth were fallen asleep and minded nothing there is doubtless some Conjuring And what then is Conjuring A pestilent commistion convention stipulation betwixt men and Devils Men and Devils what are they Look upon the Sorcerers of Egypt for the one they cryed in the smallest Plague that was sent and past their cunning to remove this is the finger of God their power is limited therefore Look upon the Martyrings of Job for the other for though the Circuit of Satan be very large even to the compassing of the whole earth to and fro yet he hath his daies assigned him to stand before the presence of God for the renewing of his Commission And besides Oviculam unam auferre non potuit He could not take one poor sheep from Job till the Lord had given him leave saying Put forth thine hand Nor enter into the Herd of Swine Matt. 8. without Christ's permission To conclude therefore with the same learned Writer Whether Men or Devils be ministerial Workers in these Actions all cometh from him who is the Judge of all as from the higher Supreme Cause whose Judgments executed thereby no man can either fully comprehend or reprehend justly He professeth no less of himself Es 45.7 Es
wise and carnal Politician What subjection do all these yield unto this great Preserver of men Though in him they live and move and have their being though they be under his protection every day Act. 17.28 yet they will not be subject unto him the God in whose hand their breath is and whose are all their waies Dan. 9.23 they will not glorifie The covetous Earth worm grovels upon his Dunghil saying to his Wedge of Gold Thou art my confidence and as Riches encrease so is his Soul more and more prostituted to his Mammon Job 31.24 Pro. 10.22 never considering that it is the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich nor remembring that the earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof and that he giveth it to whomsoever he will Doth the ambitious man that hunts greedily after honour acknowledge Christ's absolute Sovereignty when he will not content himself with that Station wherein Divine Providence hath put him but breaks over all bounds Civil Natural Spiritual aspiring still higher and higher beyond his proportion of strength and ballast of wisdom for the management of his acquired Interest which undoubtedly will either involve him in a Snare to his eternal perdition or else precipitate him here into many woful miseries As for the proud and vain-glorious man who exalts himself like the Pharisee proclaiming his Merits to the World Luke 18.11 12. and brow-beating others with overly looks of contempt and disdain he I say not closely and sliely disclaimeth Christ's Sovereignty but above all others is most guilty of an impudent and arrogant encroachment upon his Prerogative Royal Ps 138.6 and accordingly doth the Lord look upon him afar off in his due time giving a check to his folly making him to know his distance and that wherein he deals proudly Ex. 18 11. he will be above him In fine the profane Politician also that hath been trained up in the Schole of Machiavel and is become a profest and perfect Disciple of his great Patriarch Achitophel is very busie in his contrivances carrying on his unrighteous projects with much confidence and security as if Providence it self were blinde and that he who formed the Eye could not see and he that teacheth man Knowledge were altogether ignorant And thus do poor Creatures make bold with the Lord of the whole Earth withdrawing from him their subjection though they could not one moment subsist without him But O what a sad account will such presumptuous wretches make at the great Day when they shall come to stand before the Tribunal of this great Lord of Heaven and Earth They shall then finde that their preservation here hath been but a reservation they flourish and prosper awhile but it is that they may be cut off for ever Secondly In that Jesus Christ abideth continually the Governour and Preserver of the World here is matter of Instruction to be learned which Instruction shall be branched out into Three Particulars First It may teach all the faithful people of God not to be dismaied at the appearances and apprehensions of Death or of the troubles that come upon them here in this World Secondly It is a Lesson and inducement to draw poor Creatures to a constant dependance upon Divine Providence Thirdly It may let all sorts of people see their own nothingness in respect of a Spiritual standing in Grace and Holiness First then 1 Branch seeing that the Lord Jesus Christ takes a constant care of the World is the same yesterday to day and for ever in preserving the Work of his own hands what need they who may be well assured of his everlasting love unto them be afraid of death Or be daunted at the troubles that may sometimes come upon them or the World about them Concerning the first of these we may for our comfort know that Death was none of those Creatures that received a being from this Prince of the Creation Wisd 1.13 whose design was ever to uphold and maintain his own Workmanship against whatsoever might be destructive unto it But the Apostle tells us which way Death came in It entred saith he Rom. 5.12 into the world by sin This Thief and Robber then came not in at the door but foolish man lets in sin which came creeping upon him by a Serpentine Insinuation Et sicut mors intrat per peccatum â—a peccatum exit per moriem and Sin like a false Traitour makes way for this Cut-throat the Devils Emissary who no sooner in but he shews himself a Tyrant thrusts Life and Immortality into Darkness Plaies Reakes and makes what havock he pleaseth all the whole Race of Mankinde being in danger for ever to be swallowed up by him But when the Lord Jesus Christ who is the beginning of the Creation of God the first-born of every Creature findes this pragmatical Intruder so busily trampling upon the Work which he had made Gen. 1 26. Ps 139.14 Es 9.6 especially that Work which with such infinite Wisdom and power was wonderfully formed after his own Image whose Name is Wonderful he cannot suffer this Stranger thus to spoil his Labour but as he began it in Wisdom so he will in Mercy preserve it And therefore out of pure love to his own helpless Creatures he undertook to vindicate it against the Assaults of Death sending forth his Challenge with Indignation as hot as fire in these words O Death I will be thy death Hos 13.14 O Grave I will be thy destruction And not only speaks it but acts it too enters into a Combat with him And here may poor Creatures stand amazed to behold this admirable Duel a Duel of so great Import that the Victory which attends thereupon must carry with it the perpetual Monarchy of the whole World First then Christ hath a body prepared for him Heb. 10 5. that so he might be a fit Combatant with Death In this Body he appears Armed with the Breast plate of his own Righteousness though indeed loaden also with the sins of all the Elect 1 Pet. 2.24 for he bore our sins in his own Body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both to the Tree and on the Tree which was the field where this Combat was fought and carried them with him also to the Grave yea to Hell which is that Land of separation appointed for them mentioned Lev. 16.22 and there left them with the Devil from whom they had their first Original Lev. 16.22 Death on the other side being set on by the Devil for the Apostle saith Heb. 2.14 He was under his command finding a Body in his way ready to give him the Encounter and finding sin also upon it wherein his great strength was wont to lie makes use of his old Plot and stratagem which never before failed him layeth hold upon Sin and with it mortally wounds the Lord Jesus Christ Where alas is now the hope of the Creatures being rescued from under
Job 14.14 The Creature therefore must wait all the daies of their appointed time untill their change come Now the time when this shall be is here very significantly called the Manifestation or Revelation of these Sons of God which word of the Apostle is in Travel as Rebecca with a Twin of Interpretations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for it may be taken not only in a Passive sense as some will have it but also in an Active Consider it first Actively These Sons of God that is The Angels shall be sent forth by Jesus Christ and employed in an eminent Work of Revelation four several waies First They shall break open the Chambers of Death and bring out the naked Bodies of the whole Race of Mankinde that have been there shut up and laid to sleep from the beginning of the World not one shall be missing Secondly They shall gather all the Saints which are God's Jewels together Mal. 3.17 and leave the Wicked which are the dross and dregs of the World by themselves thereby manifesting the one from the other each side to receive a Sentence from the Righteous Judge according to their Works Thirdly That Righteous Judgment which shall then pass must also have its manifestation according to the Apostles word Rom. 2.5 Rom. 2.5 And who but these Sons of God shall be the Messengers and Instruments of Justice at that day So saith Jesus Christ himself in the Parable of the Tares the Reapers that is Mat. 13.30 the Angels have their charge given them not only to gather the Tares together but to binde them in bundles to burn them and as for the Wheat they must bring that safely into the Barn Fourthly and above all these Sons of God shall be employed in the manifestation of the Son of man when he comes in his Glory for they shall in effect proclaim the Name of the Lord before him unto all the World as once it was when he passed before Moses being in a Cleft of the Rock Exod. 34. The Lord the Lord God Ex. 34.6 7 merciful and gracious long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sin and that will by no means clear the guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the childrens children Ps 50.3 unto the third and fourth Generation A fire shall devour before him and the Lord shall descend from Heaven as the Apostle speaketh 1 Thes 4.16 with a Shout a Shout that will make the Earth to quake and the World to ring and with the Voice of the Archangel and with the Trump of God And what doth this imply but that these Sons of God shall minister unto Jesus Christ at that day in the manifestation of his Glory The Scripture we know speaketh often of the Manifestation and Revelation of Jesus Christ and his Glory 1 Cor. 1.7 1 Pet. 1.7.13 1 Pet. 4.13 c. And though it be most true that the Lord will then make himself known by the Judgment which he then executeth and by his appearing in his peculiar Glory yet doubtless the innumerable multitude of the Heavenly Hostes that attend upon him at his comming will also make his Praise glorious else would not the Wisdom of God have so contrived it that his Appearance should be also made solemn and formidable by reason of his Attendants that wait upon him And to this purpose the Apostle speaks expresly 2 Thes 1.7 So Beza renders it Act. 14.27 15.4 2 Thes 1.7 The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven But how With his mighty Angels in flaming fire or by his mighty Angels as the Preposition there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth also signifie And thus we see how these Sons of God shall be Active in the great Work of Manifestation at the last Day But then secondly the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is also as hath been said to be rendred in a Passive signification Thus these Sons of God shall themselves be manifested and that in two respects first of their Nature secondly of their Number First Their Nature shall be made manifest to the World for though they have appeared often under several Forms sometimes in the shape of Men sometimes like unto flaming fire for the comfort of the Godly and terrour of the Wicked yet doth it not clearly appear thereby what they are Spirits indeed they are Glorious and Heavenly and Immortal Spirits created after the Image of God of marvellous Agility excellent in Strength able to do Wonderously beyond the power of all other Creatures in the World Yet this and all else that we know of them doth not argue but that there will be a more perfect knowledge of them at the time of their Manifestation then shall it appear plainly what Relation they stand in unto God how they come to have cognizance of things done upon the Earth how they have been present in the Assemblies of the Saints and assistant unto them in the solemn duties of Divine Worship and Service 1 Cor. 11.10 then shall it be known and manifested how and wherein they have been a Guard to the people of God to keep them in all their waies and to conclude then shall they more freely and familiarly converse with men not keeping themselves at a distance as he did who reproved Maneah Judg. 12.18 saying Wherefore enquirest thou after my Name seeing it is secret So that a clear manifestation there will be of them in this regard Secondly Mat. 25.31 Their Number or whole Multitude shall then be also manifested For the Lord Jesus shall come with all his holy Angels not only with his Legions Mat. 26.53 Judg. 5.14 Es 40.26 Mat. 26.53 but his holy Myriads attending upon him He will bring out his Hosts by number saith the Prophet calling them all by Names as a General doth his Souldiers on a Training day not one of them shall fail Well may it therefore be called the Manifestation of the Sons of God when there shall be such a general Appearance of them The Lord among them as in the Holy Place Ps 68.17 Psal 68.17 Thousand thousands ministring unto him and ten thousand times ten thousands standing before him And thus have I given my sense of this Particular also which I submit to the examination of the Church it being I confess somewhat singular the Place being taken generally so far as the narrow extent of my poor Reading doth reach for the manifestation of the believing Saints of whom indeed the Evangelist speaketh after the like manner 1 John 3.2 1 John 3.2 which hath inclined Expositours to give the same Interpretation here Now saith he are we the Sons of God it should rather be rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Children of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him
as he is But I hope I may without offence give in my poor Judgment as I have done concerning this Scripture considering it is not inconsistent at all with the scope of the Holy Ghost therein and being guided hereto by some certain Probabilities First They are Angels we know and a great multitude of them who did at the Birth of Jesus Christ proclaim Peace to the Creature as well as Good-will towards men the Creature therefore may be in expectation of the manifestation of the Angels that this Promise or Salutation given by them might be made good and perfected Secondly It is not without some reason that the Holy Ghost doth use the different terms of Sons and Children in this Scripture viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sons in the 19 Verse and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Children in the 29 Verse especially considering that that which is predicated of each carrieth with it also a great difference too for the manifestation of the Sons of God answers the expectation of the Creature But the Deliverance of the Creature is not there to be terminated but only by the liberty of the Children of God Now there seemeth to me to be some probability that the varying of the terms should imply also in this place a varying of persons viz. The first to be understood of the Angels of God and the latter of the Saints the latter word also being comprehensive of the first and not the first in a true propriety of speech of the latter considering withall what hath been before said that the Creature must have the Angels employed in working their Deliverance but not the Saints Sons being also fitter then Children in the bringing to pass so great a Work as delivering the Creature out of Bondage is like to be More might be added but this shall suffice for the third Observation from this Scripture viz. The time of satisfying the Creatures expectation that is at the manifestation of the Sons of God Fourthly That which is next offered to our View is the manner of the Deliverance of the Creature or to what it shall be reduced at the expiration of its Bondage it shall be delivered into the Glorious Liberty of the Children of God For it is but subjected saith the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in hope or under hope of a happy change to a better Estate and though this hope deferred maketh the poor Creature to faint yet the patient abiding thereof shall not perish for ever For hope maketh not ashamed especially when it is fixed upon such a sure Foundation Rom. 5.5 as Gods Eternal Purpose which cannot be disanulled A Deliverance therefore shall undoubtedly arise unto the Creature even as there shall be to the Children of God for as in this corrupt estate wherein they are involved for the present by the first Adam they are both together fellow-sufferers so shall they together in their several Capacities be set at liberty and have their Pristine Excellencies restored yea much more enlarged unto them by Jesus Christ the second Adam who being the Alpha and Omega the Beginning and the End of the Creation the same yesterday Rev. 21.5 6. to day and for ever is of power sufficient to make all things new It is indeed upon the Childrens account that the Creature shall be Interessed in that glorious Deliverance for as the Apostle speaks in another case Doth God take care for Oxen So may we say doth God so respect the Creature that is the frame of Nature that he will vouchsafe for its own sake to beautifie it when it is deformed Or doth he altogether for our sakes that are his Children For our sakes no doubt shall this glorious Work be accomplished that even the Creature it self also may in a free and liberal manner which is earnestly desired by it be subservient unto his Glory And thus we finde the Preposition here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is translated into is taken by some as carrying the force of another viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Propter which signifieth for so reading the word thus The Creature shall be delivered from the Bondage of Corruption for the Glorious Liberty of the Children of God that is That the Childrens Liberty might by their service be the more Glorious For as God made the Creature in the beginning for Man and because of him subjected it likewise unto Vanity that so it might not even in the daies of Vanity be superiour to him for whom it was created So will he deliver it again for Man's sake that is for the Accumulation and Illustration of his childrens Glory Though I confess upon the Creature also it self as it is said before shall be conferred a Glory which shall be in the proportion of its Nature a sutable Advancement unto it as the glory of the children shall be unto them And this I conceive in short to be the sense of the Apostle as to this Particular whereby we may see clearly that there shall be a Restauration of the Creature that is as saith S. Peter 2 Pet. 3.13 Now Heavens and a new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness Which words of new Heavens and new Earth as they are used in a certain place by the Prophet Isaiah being spiritually understood Es 65.17 are I confess appliable to the state of the Church in the times of the Gospel under the Kingdom of Christ when it should be so renewed that it should seem to be as 't were a new World old things being done away 2 Cor. 5.17 Types and shadows removed yea the whole Service of the former Tabernacle abolished and all things made new 2 Cor. 5.17 So that in this sense this Prophecy is already fulfilled Nevertheless though the words of the Prophet may be so taken yet we are not to confine the Spirit of God thereunto especially when he hath declared his meaning elsewhere to be of a larger extent as he hath done in this very particular for the Apostle S. Peter in the forecited place Commenting upon the Prophet speaks of the new Heavens and the new Earth as not so much to be seen in this World as in that which is to come his whole Scope in the said Chapter tending thereunto Let then the spiritual sense be acknowledged by us yet that hinders not but that the other sense viz. That there shall really be new Heavens and a new Earth at the last Day may be acknowledged also even as Glory is said to be begun here in those Graces that are shed abroad by the Holy Ghost in the hearts of the Elect which shall notwithstanding shine forth in its full Splendour in the Kingdom of Glory Objection I hear what is objected unto this viz. That in the Day of the Lord 2 Pet. 3.10 The Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the works that are therein shall
be burnt up which implies a total Abolition of the Heavens and of the Earth How then can there be such a Restauration For answer to this Objection if a late Writer may be heard he will tell us that this place of S. Peter is to be understood of the Destruction of Judaea and not of the end of the World Which suggestion of his I shall not for my part insist upon it being an unwarrantable Interpretation differing not only from the Prophet before and the Apostle himself after him in the 7th Verse where he clearly expresseth presseth his meaning to be of the general Conflagration as it were of the Heavens and of the Earth at the Day of Judgment That which I have to say unto the Objection shall be folded up in a twofold Reply Answ 1 First We see the Apostle speaks there of Heavens in the Plural Number 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as comprehending all Heavens So that if the place be to be taken in that sense as that the Heavens and the Earth shall so pass away 1 Reg. 8.27 Es 63.15 Heb. 12.28 as to be no more then we must conclude also that even the Heaven of the Blessed which is the Heaven of Heavens the Habitation of Gods Holiness and Glory shall be altogether taken away likewise But that is a Kingdom which cannot be moved therefore surely it is not so to be understood Answ 2 Secondly Whereas the Apostle speaks of the Dissolution of these inferiour Heavens being on fire and their passing away with a great noise of the Elements also melting with fervent heat and the burning up of the Earth and the Works that are therein the meaning is not as if the substance of these Creatures shall be annihilated and reduced to nothing but only that their present Form and quality shall be changed For first the Quintessence of the Heavens is not combustible by any Elementary fire if the Apostles sense should be taken with a reference to any such kinde of fire it being a most certain Maxime Coelum à subcoelestibus nihil patitur that is Heaven cannot fall under the power of any thing that is below it self for being next unto the Angels the prime Agent in Nature it cannot possibly be Passive And if it were subject to any such Consumptive fire then should that fire which is a far more ignoble Creature have a Being in its greatest height and glory when the Being of the Heavens is under a Decay which is too great an absurdity to be imagined by any that take pleasure in searching into the great Works of the Almighty Yea more considering that the constant Product of such fire is nothing else but Ashes it will follow that when the Heavens and the Earth are consumed the Ashes thereof must remain in the presence of God as if he favoured only the Dust of the Creatures But doubtless in stead of Ashes there shall be a glorious Beauty upon the face of Nature at that Day which beauty even that very fire that shall then visibly flame out shall also be a means through the mighty working of the most High to bring forth We will not too curiously search into the nature of that fire possibly it may be such as that wherein God appeared unto Moses in the Bush but consumed it not Ex. 3.2 and connatural with that which took up Elias into Heaven not destroying his body but changing it into a glorious estate 2 Reg. 2.11 In both which Apparitions as in many more the Ministry of Angels was imployed whom as the Psalmist speaks God maketh a flaming fire And therefore when the innumerable multitude of these Angels shall appear at the last Day waiting upon the Lord Jesus when he comes in his Glory well may Heaven and Earth be then said to be in a flame and as it were all on fire But let the Nature of that fire be as it is ordered by the Wisdom of the Creatour far surpassing our shallow Apprehensions being sparkles of those everlasting Burnings that are in himself This fire at that day shall put a new Form and Quality upon the Heavens and the Earth But how Or what I say again we know not neither is it indeed fit for us to know while we are in this our present estate This we know because God hath promised it there shall be new Heavens and a new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness that is it may be such Heavens and such Earth at least as there was in the beginning wherein Adam dwelt when he was in his Innocency This also we know that the Angels who are this flaming fire as they are now employed by God in the Ordering Guiding and Governing the Heavens and the Earth which now are so they shall in the end be instrumental in making all things new for they shall take away every thing that doth offend and like unto fire separate the Precious from the Vile which will necessarily bring on a perfect Renovation and this Renovation is that which will surely be the Dissolution of the former both Heavens and Earth so as they shall not be remembred nor come into minde according to the word of the Prophet Es 65.17 Add unto this the melting of the Elements which the Apostle also mentioneth a plain Metaphorical expression what doth it imply but that they shall be brought into a new form even as Mettal when it is melted loseth not its substance but only the faeculency and dross is taken away and the Mettal transformed into another shape then it had before And thus in like manner the Prophet David when he had spoken Ps 102.26 of the perishing of the Heavens doth declare what his meaning thereof was in the words immediately following viz. All of them shall wax old like a Garment Ps 102. 26. as a Vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed He speaketh not of other Heavens but the old changed into better The wrong side of the Vesture is for the present only discernable but the day shall come when it shall be seen in all its Glory Unto this we have the concurrent assent of Expositours both Ancient and Modern whose words because they are so clear and pregnant in the confirmation hereof I judge it fit to intersert them at large as I finde them Holy Hierom upon Isaiah writes thus Extrema illa Coelorum mutatio erit tantum renovatio illorum promotio in meliorem statum That is The change which shall be of the Heavens at the last Day will be nothing else but their Renovation and a promotion of them to a better estate And in his Commentary upon the 102 Psalm writing on these words They shall perish and wax old as a Garment gives his judgment thus Coelorum iste interitus non erit abolitio corum sed reformatio redintegratio that perishing of the Heavens shall not be their Abolition but their Reformation and Redintegration So likewise S. Augustine on the same
place renders the sense thereof thus Peribunt Coeli in fine seculi sed non peribunt ut animalia ita ut esse desinant sed quia in alium statum transformati omnibus quae nunc exercent ministeriis functionibus effectibus carebunt ut quibus tum non erit opus homini facto jam incorruptibili cujus gratiâ ministeria illa exercebant Coeli The Heavens shall perish in the end of the World yet not as other Creatures so as to cease to have any being but being transformed into another state they shall not have those Operations Influences and Effects which now they have because Man for whose sake they were employed in such services being made incorruptible hath no need of them The asoresaid S. Hierom illustrates his meaning by a similitude v. g. Infans cum in Puerum creverit puer in juvenem juvenis in virum vir in senem nequaquam per singulas aetates homo perit idem enim est qui prius fuit sed paulatim immutatur aetati priori videtur periisse sic etiam Coeli c. When an Infant groweth up to childhood from childhood to youth from youth to mans-estate and from thence to old age we do not say in his growth and progress through these several Ages that he perisheth from what he was essentially no he is the same person which he was at first but by degrees changed so as to the preceding Age wherein he was he may seem to perish Thus is it with the Heavens they shall be changed which change shall be a kinde of perishing as to their former estate and a dissolution of that Frame wherein they stood before but yet nevertheless continue in the same substance still which they were from the beginning Of the same judgment was Gregory sirnamed the Great Quaeri potest saith he c. It may be demanded seeing the Scripture speaks one while of the eternal duration of the Earth how it comes to pass that another while it speaks of a general Dissolution Hoc tamen facile discutimus c. This saith he we can easily discuss and resolve if we consider how and after what manner Earth and Heaven shall pass away and how they shall continue Vtraque enim haec per eam quam nunc habent imaginem peribunt sed per essentiam tamen sine fine subsistunt They both pass away in respect of their present Form but their essential Being shall never fail And again Scriptum est c. It is written there shall be new Heavens and a new Earth Quae quidem non alia sunt condenda sed haec ipsa renovabuntur Not as if other distinct from these shall come in their stead but even these that are now in being shall be renewed Coelum igitur transibit erit quia ab eâ quam nunc habet specie per ignem tergitur tamen in suâ semper naturâ servatur Heaven therefore shall pass away and yet shall continue because by fire it is purged from that outward appearance and shape which it now hath but in its own proper nature shall stand for ever Vnde per Psalmistam dicitur mut abis eos mutabuntur quam quidem ultimam commutationem suam ipsis nunc vicissitudinibus nobis nunciant quibus nostris usibus indesinenter alternant c. And hence it is said by the Psalmist Thou shalt change them and they shall be changed which ultimate change of theirs they do in effect themselves significantly demonstrate unto us by those interchangeable Vicissitudes wherewith they do incessantly vary in order to our use and service for may we not at every turn of the year behold the Earth through the Winter-frosts dis-robed of all her gorgeous Attire and when the Spring appears to flourish in as much beauty as she did before The Heavens in like manner to be covered every day with the darkness of the Night and again to be renewed by the daies Brightness And thus by the continual repair of these obvious Defects we may take some guess of the future perishing of these things at the last Day and also of their refreshing again by a Renovation In the next place let Peter Lombara be heard Lib. 4. Dist 47. who saith Peribit Coelum Terra non secundum subst antiam sed secundum speciem quae immutabitur Heaven and Earth shall perish not in their substance but in their outward Form which shall be changed Many more of the Ancients might be alledged who do unanimously consent unto this Opinion So that whatever some people may judge of it now it is no Recent Device but a Doctrine that hath been received as a most Genuine Truth in former Ages yea and now also in these later times it hath been Asserted by Modern Divines I shall instance in some few amongst a multitude that give their suffrage hereunto Thus Calvin Hoc unum de mundi elementis notandum est consumptum iri tantum ut novam qualitatem induant manente substantiâ This one thing is to be noted concerning the Elements of the World that they shall be consumed only by putting on a new Quality their substance remaining still the same And Commenting upon these words of the Apostle viz. The Creature is made subject to Vanity he thus writeth Dubium non est quin vanitatem opponat integrae naturae c. It is not to be doubted but that S. Paul opposeth the present Vanity of the Creature to that perfect Nature which shall appear in it hereafter Thus Polanus Erunt Coeli novi quia renovati sed novis qualitatibus non substantiâ There shall be new Heavens because they shall be renewed but how Not with a new Substance but new Qualities Thus Bucanus Post judicium seu restaurationem omnium rerum sedes locus beatorum erit non solum in Coelis sed etiam in terra After the Judgment or the Restauration of all things the seat and place of the Blessed shall not only be in the Heavens but also in the Earth Thus Amesius Ignis purgando innovando mundo deftinatus non antecedet judicium sed sequetur That fire ordained for the purging and renewing of the World shall not precede the Judgment but follow it And again Elementa non erunt sublata sed mutata The Elements shall not be quite taken away but changed Gomarus after many Arguments that he produceth to this purpose concludeth Mundus non in nihilum sed in meliorem statum est redigendus The World in the end is not to be reduced to nothing but into a better estate H. Grotius in like manner Libertatem à vanitate sive interitu accipiet tunc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cum filii Dei ad gloriam illam aeternam pervenient Solent boni patres in honorem filiorum etiam servos eorum ornare The Creature shall be delivered from Vanity and Destruction when the Children of God
is the place of the Angels that sinned and which kept not their Principality Jud. v. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 2.4 but left their own habitation as the Apostle S. Jude speaketh whom God threw down into Hell delivering them into Chains of darkness to be reserved unto Judgment I do not nor dare not say as some that one ground of God's election of men unto life was to fill up that place in his Presence which was made void by casting out the reprobate Angels and that such a number of elect Saints shall come in their stead and no more These are but the froathy Conceits of men of corrupt mindes who will be wiser then Daniel Ezek. 28.3 and no secret must be hidden from them But this I say that in this particular also as well as in the former the Parallel holds between the Land of Canaan and the Celestial Inheritance for as God did plant his own chosen people in that good Land Deut 7.1 from whence he drove out the Heathen that were the Inhabitants thereof Nations greater and mightier then they So will he surely bring his Saints into that heavenly Country which he hath promised to give unto them from whence those Angels whose height was like the height of the Cedars in comparison of such a poor shrub as man is were for their Rebellion driven into perpetual banishment Amos 2.9 Moreover as Heaven which God will give unto his people at the last day being purchased and prepared for them by Jesus Christ may in some respect be likened unto Canaan such as hath been mentioned so that new Earth which is also to come may in like manner be resembled unto it It is not safe to speak of what we have not seen nor to make other discoveries concerning this matter then such as the Holy Ghost hath already made This we may say seeing there shall be a new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness we may affirm it shall undoubtedly be a good Land Abounding I say not again with Milk and Honey but with such store of Delights as are proper for Glorified Saints who shall stand in no need of any bodily sustenance from the Creature as they do here in this life And what a good Land will this be when there shall be nothing in it that doth offend all the Carkasses of the Reprobate purged out of it and that Curse which God laid upon it at the beginning quite taken away It shall also be a large Land even the whole compass of the Earth shall at that day to the uttermost parts of it be the Saints Inheritance that promise being then perfectly fulfilled Ps 37.11 Mat. 5.5 viz. That the meck shall inherit the earth That which is now the place of the Canaanites and of the Hittites and of the Amorites c. That is to say of all the Wicked and Unbelievers in the World shall be unto the Godly for an everlasting Possession and that in a more noble and more excellent way then it is now unto any whom for the present Mammon dandles upon his knee as his most beloved Darlings Nay further when there shall be no more Sea as it is said Rev. 21.1 which place according to the concurrent judgment of sundry Divines is to be understood literally as well as figuratively That fire whatsoever it may be at the Worlds end possibly drying it quite up this earthly Inheritance will certainly be then much more enlarged far beyond the narrow extent of what hath been before possessed by the Sons of men Behold then O ye Children of men what a Glory is prepared for you by Jesus Christ at that great Day of Restauration Glory in Heaven and Glory in Earth Glory for your Souls and Glory for your Bodies wherein you will have the advantage of the glorious Angels in a special resemblance of Jesus Christ whereof they are not capable Phil. 3.21 for your Bodies though they be vile for the present in regard of their Original shall then be made like unto Christ's glorious Body and your Bodies and his also being Originally taken out of the earth the earth also shall be given you as a measure of Glory above that of the Angels for your Inheritance Go up now to Pisgah and in a Spiritual Rapture take a view of your Inheritance before you enter into it An Inheritance glorious and honourable wherein you shall be Co-heirs with the Lord of Glory an Inheritance safe and sure free from all Intrusions and Encroachments of the World the Works of the Devil being all destroyed 1 John 3.8 2 Pet. 3.10 and the Works of the Earth utterly burnt up that is all the Oppressions Pollutions Snares Insinuations Persecutions of wicked men and Devils which formerly troubled you come to a perpetual end an Inheritance Durante vitâ to hold so long as Eternity it self lasteth where there are many Mansions common to all those that are accounted worthy to obtain that World for Meum Tuum these terms Mine and Thine which make such a strife in this World shall not then be once named amongst them as a Language out of use and improper for that Country which is a place of Glory What shall be mine shall be then Yours that now read what is here written and what shall be yours though you be now Princes of the Earth shall then also be mine though I be now of a lower degree for we shall be all of a Society in this Inheritance Fellow-heirs and Fellow-citizens together and of the Houshold of God united according to a most perfect Pattern by an indissoluble Bond even as the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father John 17.21 yea more united together in them as our Center wherein all the Lines of our Union and Fellowship do meet for so much doth the same Text witness unto us What shall we then say to these things If Heaven and Earth with all that is therein desirable will satisfie us we shall be fully and perfectly happy And now let us admire and adore the Lord for this his constant and unchangeable Goodness and for his wonderful Works which he hath done from the Beginning and will also do to the Worlds end even unto all Eternity for the Children of men Certainly who so is wise amongst us will observe these things and ponder this Superlative exceeding weight of Glory that is prepared for them which whosoever doth with a quiet and holy dependance upon God for it they shall understand more of the loving kindnesses of the Lord far surpassing that which is here but poorly and with a narrow and straitned Spirit revealed unto them But as for the Tools of the Earth that will not leave their folly but most unthankfully like the people of old who despised that good and pleasant Land Ps 106 24 that Land of Desires Psal 106.24 will suffer themselves to be bewitched with this present evil World and putting away from
had these Customes of Yesterday their Tendency unto Christ and their spiritual accomplishment in him And thus had Job a respect unto him when he gave this Testimony of his Faith saying I know that my Redeemer liveth And thus did the Prophet Daniel in like manner Yesterday betake himself to the same Refuge Dan. 9.17 when he prayed that he might be heard for the Lord's sake Implying that he could not expect a gracious Answer to his Supplication but through the Mediation of Jesus Christ who is Lord of all as the Apostle calls him Act. 10 36. from first to last and whom the glorious Angels at his first appearance in the flesh acknowledged to be the Lord Luk. 2.11 thereby ascribing unto him that Title of Honour which was in all Ages due unto him In short that Synopsis or Cloud of Witnesses as it is called which is by the Apostle presented unto us in one view Heb. 11. may encompass us about with convictions enough concerning this Truth Eph. 5.23 1 Cor. 15.45 viz. That the people of God Yesterday that is in all the Generations of old expected and obtained Salvation no other way but by Faith in Jesus Christ who is the Saviour of the Body that is the Church ever since it had a Being by the spirit of quickning wherewith it hath been Acted from the Beginning for when the first Adam fell under the Power of Death the Second became immediately a quickning spirit This was the Faith of Believers Yesterday who by a spiritual Logick as the term 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Apostle useth doth imply came to discern Heb. 11.1 and make Demonstrations to themselves of the good things to come without those ocular and sensible Manifestations which have since appeared Mr. Jer. Dyke And this indeed is the true Nature of Faith For look how it is said of God as one well makes the Comparison that he calls those things that be not as if they were so doth Faith make things to be which are not that is which are not to sense For as Faith gives a Nullity to things that are viz. to the Afflictions Miseries and Mortality of this Life making them to be as if they were not according to the Apostles Word 2 Cor. 6.9 10 As dying 2 Cor. 6.9 10. and yet behold we live at chastned and yet not killed as sorrowful yet alway rejoycing as poor yet making many riâ—h as having nothing yet possessing all things so on the contrary for it is able to overthrow the whole Course of Nature it gives a subsistence to things not being and makes those things to be which are not Thus are we by Faith already in Heaven though here yet on Earth For our Conversation saith the Apostle our civil interest and society Phil. 3 20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our trading and employment is in Heaven And thus did the Faith of Believers under the Old Testament make Christ to be unto them a full and compleat Saviour before he himself had a corporal being upon Earth He was to their Faith a Sacrifice Crucified from the beginning of the World who was not indeed Crucified till the latter end of the World In them was fulfilled that which was spoken by the Prophet He that believeth shall not make haste though they did earnestly long for the Coming of the Messiah Es 28 16 yet they did not charge God foolishly as being slow and slack in his performances but with Faith and Patience were contented to Wait in the mean time living comfortably upon that Dispensation of Grace which God in his great Wisdom and Mercy had appointed for them Yea though the Law come forth in its time for the aggravating of Sin which as the Apostle saith Gal. 3.12 is not of Faith crying out unto all with a Loud and Terrible Voice Do this or you shall Die yet for all that their Faith did not fail neither was it made void by the Law as the law was not afterwards made void by Faith for according to their Faith so was it done unto them Christ the Mediatour they not onely expected but relied upon according to the Tenour of the New Covenant and Christ as Mediatour did always appear for them to guide them in their Way and to guard them in their need to grant them their Desires and to obtain grace with God in their behalf This hath been largely proved before and therefore we need not stand much upon it now I will onely add one instance more whereby we shall see the gracious Indulgence of the Almighty in that time of Yesterday dispensed in and through Jesus Christ the Mediatour towards a poor Creature who was then Ambitious as I may say to have a Discovery made unto him of the glorious Presence of God beyond the Capacity of his weak nature and whereto a consenting according to his asking must undoubtedly have proved his inevitable ruine This poor Creature was Moses whom I so call in comparison of him with whom he had then to do though otherwise A man of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ps 90. Title the Viceroy of Jesus Christ in Jeshurun who when he perceived the Lord's favourable condescension so as to entertain Familiar Conference with him and upon his request to renew unto him a Grant of his Presence in the Conduct of his people to the Land of Canaan he thereupon according to the manner of us all growth more bold aspiring to such a knowledge of God that never any of the Sons of Adam had attained unto yea such as was altogether inconsistent with frail Mortality I beseech thee saith he shew me thy Glory It is Ex. 33.18 by our late Expositours denied that Moses was now desirous to see the Essence of God for that is Invisible 1 Tim. 6.16 Neither was Moses its like ignorant of it but for my part I leave it undetermined howsoever it is very evident that he desired to see that of God which in much mercy was not granted unto him and therefore it might very well be said of him as it was of the Sons of Zebedee he knew not what he asked For who alas among us can dwell with devouring fire who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings But as Peter when he was present at Christ's Transfiguration Luk. 9.32.33 was so taken with that exceeding Glory which he then saw yet such a Glory probably as the weakness of man might well beare that he spake at random not knowing what he said of building Tabernacles c. In like manner Moses is now so transported with the apprehension of his present Happiness and Priviledge above all men that though he was not unmindful of his Charge I mean the people of Israel but was importunate with God not to leave them yet he forgets his own mortal Estate wherein he was to abide and desires to see that Manifestation of God's presence which is reserved for another Life Ex. 33 19.
we here the Apostle Saint Paul telling us that Circumcision is nothing Nay more 1 Cor 7.19 Gal. 3.2 If any should be now Circumcised Christ himself shall profit them nothing Was not the Passeover commanded to be kept by the people of God as a perpetual Ordinance throughout their Generations And do we not now hear Christ speaking unto his Church of a new ordinance in stead thereof saying This is my body which is broken for you and this is my bloud which is shed for you This do in remembrance of mee thereby taking away the first Sacrament viz The Paschal Lamb that he might instead thereof establish this second Is not the Temple and the Temple-Service quite removed and all those legal Ceremonies which were of Christ's own institution as hath been before observed now utterly abolished And is not all this change now brought about by his own express order and appointment How is he then the Same Solution I Answer briefly Albeit indeed there hath been a change in these things which are but Circumstantial yet the Foundation of God standeth sure and the Faithful Witness in Heaven will testifie unto us upon Earth that Jesus Christ is still 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Same Es 9.6 Hee who is the Eternity of Israel that Pater Aeternitatis as the Prophet Esay calleth him The Everlasting Father of the whole Israel of God in all Ages and Nations of the World shall never have the least Imputation of inconstancy in receding from the great work of Salvation which he hath undertaken according to the will of the Father charged upon him His Covenant he doth not break neither will he though the form and manner of the Administration thereof be in pursuance of it totally varied The same Salvation on Gods part towards his people he hath still propounded And the same termes of reconciliation with God to the Church he still proclaimed viz. To repent and believe Nothing new then in the Substance of this Covenant whereof he is the Mediatour but onely in the Accidents and Circumstances of manifestation which can never argue any variableness at all in him As love-tokens between friends may not alwayes be of the same kinde but may sometimes be interchanged yet the persons still continue the same to each other in love and faithfulness And as the clothes may differ sometimes when the body that wears them remaineth still the same We might here speak of the enlargement of the Church in this time of the Gospel beyond the former limits even from Sea to sea to the uttermost parts of the earth that promise being now fulfilled viz That her seed should inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate Cities to be inhabited Which enlargement did necessarily require an abolition of those rites which were affixed to the Mosaical Tabernacle We might also further shew how the dispensations of grace are in great wisdom and faith fulness proportioned not onely to the extent but the age and growth of the Church in regard whereof she being not fit now to live upon carnal ordinances as she did yesterday in her minority was therefore to have stronger meat provided for her viz. That which is more spiritual In fine We might consider that seing God doth vouchsafe his presence unto his Church in a more glorious manner more freely more clearly in this day of his power and grace then he hath been wont heretofore easing his people of those Yokes which they were not able to bear and performing the promises and predictions given out by his Prophets since the World began it is but meet therefore that there should be a removal of those shadows that were the appendants of his former appearances and that Memorials be kept and Monuments set up of the several discoveries of his present glory These things I say might have been insisted upon more largely but that it is fit now to draw towards a conclusion And that which hath been written may suffice to remove the objection laid in our way so that we may still proclaim before the World the Immutability of the Lord Jesus Christ that he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same to day which he was yesterday Some inferences would now be derived from hence which may be of use in this time of the Gospel Let us consider of somewhat in order thereunto before we proceed any further to that which follows First We may hereupon again infer that those Churches which this day profess the faith of Christ Crucified according to this constant rule cannot justly be taxed with Novelty in their profession as those who this day follow the Romish Synagogue are apt to traduce them What though they have laid aside some corrupt Rites and superfluous Customes which by long tract of time and too neare a Vicinity and too sinful a compliancy with the World they had conâ—racted yet so long as they hold the Foundation and this Foundation still standeth sure the same that ever it was it must be accounted a soul slander to say that they are but of a late edition and that their Religion was never heard of in the world before Luther gave his Imprimatur unto it But we shall make no more mention of this here having also spoken of it before Nevertheless because these slanderers are so imperious in their censures of others and to the end they may be convinced of their own folly if at least they be not stark blinde it will not be amiss upon this occasion a little to retort upon them this imputation of Novelty and so lay it as it well deserveth at their own door We shall not need to seek far for our Warrant in this matter our present Text will present it unto us Jesus Christ is the Same throughout this day of the Gospel from the beginning to the end The Doctrine of life which he hath delivered in the holy Scripture is sure and stedfast not to be altered and revoked in the least Tittle or Iota of it It is not yea and noy as the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 1.19 But Yea and Amen to the glory of God sooner will he overturn the whole frame of Nature then alter the word that is gone out of his Lips Whosoever therefore they be that maintain any doctâ—ine different from this infallible Standard and obtrude it upon the world as necessary to Salvation are notorious Innovatours Now is it not as clear as the Sun that the Church of Rome hath herein exceedingly erred teaching for doctrines the Precepts of men What a mass of Upstart Heterodox Opinions have they forged time after time which can never be justified by the everlasting Gospel of the Son of God which yet notwithstanding are pressed with so much violence that whosoever will not receive them must be Anathematized and persecuted to death with fire and fagot May we not therefore conclude that notwithstanding all their doting pretensions to Antiquity they are but Novellists a brood of yesterday and their recent
what it is for the Son to deliver up the Kingdom to the Father It is even that which the Apostle saith Phil. 2.10 then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him that God may be all in all whence it followeth that this subjection is the same with the delivery up of the Kingdom An interpretation therefore here seems to be necessary that the Son may be acknowledged to be subject to the Father and yet nevertheless that he may be said to have an everlasting Kingdom which may be called the Kingdom of the Son because then at the Name of Jesus every knee must bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the Earth When all things do confess the Lord Jesus and are made subject unto him whether it be by constraint or by consent then shall the mystery of one God be made manifest unto all and all praise shall redound unto the Father of whom are all things that so when preaching that is the creatures service in proclaiming the Name of God shall cease the one onely God may be known in the mystery of the Trinity For when all rule and all authority and power shall bow the knee to Christ then shall the Son manifest himself that it is not he of whom are all things but that he is his Son and that in him he himself is to be seen according to his own words Joh. 14.10 Joh. 14.10 This then is the subjection and the yeilding up of the Kingdome Christ subjecteth himself unto the Father proclaiming the Father to be he of whom are all things confessing also that he himself is of him For so great Majesty and Glory will appear in the comming of the Son that all the powers of Heaven and company of Angels may possibly look upon him as God alone But our Saviour when he shall say I am not he that is the Father but his Son he delivers up the Kingdome to the Father and yet continueth to be King still Herein then I say is manifested both his subjection and his delivery up of the Kingdome because when he professeth that he himself is of the Father he confesseth that whatsoever he hath is of the Father ascribing unto him the glory of being the complement of all things Besides this the same Saint Austin adds yet another sense concerning Christs delivery up of the Kingdome to the Father interpreting the said Kingdome for the people of the Kingdome that is his charge of the Elect Saints which he received of the Father not suffering one of them to be lost Ad Oro. Cont. Priscillia cap. 7. tom 6. Cum tradiderit Regnum Deo Patri id est cum perduxerit sanctos suos ad contemplationem Patris c. He shall deliver up the Kingdome to the Father that is when he hath brought all his Saints to behold the Glory of the Father and his own Glory which he had with the Father before the World was Now whether we understand the Apostle in this sense or that other before either of which we may safely adhere unto and unto one or both of them without question must the words of the Apostle be reduced we may conclude infallibly that Christs delivery up of the Kingdome to the Father shall not deprive him of that power and authority which he had before over his Church but that he shall continue to be King thereof unto all eternity August eodem loco Quod autem dicit Apostolus deinde finis cum tradiderit Regnum Deo Patri ibi finem non consumentem sed perficientem significat And whereas the Apostle saith then cometh the end when Christ shall deliver up the Kingdome c. That is not to be understood of the end bringing with it destruction and dissolution but rather that which bringeth perfection wherein shall be a clearer demonstration of Christs Power and Wisdome in the governing of his Church then is possible now to be discerned For as Luther upon these very words of the Apostle saith well Est idem hic in Terris regnum quod postea in Coelis futurum erit nisi quod jam contectum oculis nostris non pateat It is the same Kingdome here upon Earth which shall be hereafter in Heaven but that we are not able now abiding in this mortal and sinful estate to perceive it being hidden from our eyes I could multiply Authours both Ancient and Modern who do all agree in this that when Christ delivers up the Kingdome to the Father he then onely layeth down his Mediatorial Office not continuing any longer the Fathers Deputy in the governing of his Church but that his Kingdome notwithstanding shall everlastingly be the Same The same in the manifestation of his Wisdome Power Love Goodness towards his redeemed people to all eternity Onely how and wherein he will exercise the Authority of a Head over his Church otherwise then is before related there is none that is wise unto sobriety that will speak of it or be inquisitive after it Such knowledge is too wonderful for us it is high we cannot attain unto it Now therefore let all the ends of the Earth that is Application all the Inhabitants of the World farre and near Look unto Jesus and be saved Consider him in his Divine Nature Es 45.22 as he is begotten of the Father from eternity to eternity consider him also in the several works of creation continual preservation and future restauration of all things look unto him in his relation to his Church what he hath been is and eternally will be without any variableness or shadow of turning you 'll finde him in all that which the Apostle here proclaims him to be the same yesterday to day and for ever Look unto him then I say that you may more and more long after his apperance love him and delight in him Look unto him that you may follow his example an example equivalent with all Rules of righteousness in those things which he did and commanded though not altogether in those things which he did but commanded not What better object can you have to fix all the thoughts of your hearts upon He is the pattern set for your imitation according to the depth of Divine Wisdome He is the gift of God to the World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Joh. 4.10 a greater gift then which though God be great in power and infinite in love he hath not to give Eph. 1.6 He is the beloved in whom the Father is well pleased deliciae Dei humani generis the darling of the Almighty Hag. 2.7 Ps 45.2 Cant. 5.10 and the desire of all Nations fairer then the children of men white and ruddy the chiefest of ten thousand white in his Divine Nature according to the sense of some late Expositours which was the brightness of his Fathers substance and red in his humanity being of the same substance with
for the whole number But because there are some amongst us who with much pertinacy do affirm that the Jews shall never be a people again so long as the World endures which assertion doth thwart the Doctrine of Christs Immutability which we have here maintained hear therefore what the spirit speaketh of it to the Churches out of the New Testament For even therein also have we a full and clear testimony from the mouth of Jesus Christ himself and his Apostles to assure us of this truth against all Cavils whatsoever First Luk 21.23 24. Then see what the Lord saith Luk. 21.23 24. There shall be great distress in the Land and wrath upon this people and they shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be led away Captive into all Nations and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled See here how in wrath the Lord remembreth mercy saith venerable Bede upon the place Quia non in perpetuum donec tempora Nationum impleantur the judgement here written is not to be perpetuated till time be no more but onely to continue till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled Concerning which times though it be true that the Father hath reserved them to himself as a secret not fit to be imparted to the World in which regard it hath been and will be too much boldness to prescribe the very instant of their expiration yet we may safely say of them the words of our Saviour here importing no less that whensoever they do expire Jerusalem shall be delivered from her bondage and consequently that light and gladness joy and honour shall come upon the Jewish Nation Let us then for this end make a little enquiry into them and consider what is meant by these times of the Gentiles Sundry constructions are given of them by Interpreters nevertheless I doubt not but that which hath a tendency to our present purpose we shall finde to be most genuine Two Expositions I have met with which though the Authours thereof be of great note in the Church are not in my poor judgement to be allowed the one reaching beyond the sense of the Holy Ghost the other coming short of it as it shall here evidently appear First That which goeth too far makes the filling up of the times of the Gentiles to be contemporary with the final Consummation of all things and so consequently holdeth that neither the Jews nor Jerusalem shall ever be restored again Thus the Lutheran Expositors generally understand it But against this it may be Objected First We no where finde in Scripture that the fulfilling of the times of the Gentiles is rendred in such a sense viz. For the end of the World and in such cases the Holy Scripture hath been still wont the wisdom of God so ordering it to explain it self by some reiterations and paralel places to the end that the Church might in a form of sound words fully know the minde of the spirit Secondly It is inconsistent with the Prophecies that went before concerning the Gentiles that in the time of the Gospel they should generally submit unto the Church of the Jews as we have before undeniably proved when Jerusalem shall be again inhabited and made a praise in the earth Thirdly it is plain that our Saviour in this 21 of Saint Luke puts a difference between the desolation of Judea Vide Albertum magnum super locum and the dissolution of the world making the former a portentous omen and sad prefiguration of the latter As therefore the dissolution of the world shall be seconded with an eternity of rest to all Believers so that the type may sute the Anti-type shall the desolation of Judea be also attended with a sweet peace and happy deliverance to Gods antient people the inhabitants of that Land even in this World before the dissolution thereof All which considered this cannot be the meaning of our Saviour in this place The other exposition which I mentioned that cometh too short is given by a late learned and industrious writer amongst us Doctour Hammond by name who affirmeth that the times of the Gentiles here fore-told by our Saviour are already past having had their full end at that last and notable destruction both of the City Jerusalem and the people which was brought upon them by Aelius Adrianus sixty five years after the burning of the Temple by the Romans under the conduct of Titus the Son of Vespasianus All which time of the Romans possessing the City he makes the full extent of this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 untill and will have it reach no farther For then saith he Adrian rebuilt a part of the City and called it by his own name Aelia inhabiting it with Gentiles whereupon it followed that as all the Jews remaining such in opposition to the Christians were utterly banisht the City c. So the believing Christian Jews returned thither again from their dispersions and inhabited it again and joyned and made one Congregation one Church with the Gentiles which had there by that time received the faith also and till then continued a distinct Church from the Jews Thus he But against this novel conceit for so it may Salvo honore Docti defuncti Authoris well be called which as I said cometh short of the sense of our Saviour in the fore-cited place some just exceptions offer themselves to our consideration First If we examine the story upon which the said Authour groundeth his assertion we shall finde that the truth of this Prophecy concerning the treading down of Jerusalem by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled was so far from receiving its final accomplishment at that remarkable change under Adrian that it might well be thought it did then more then ever before begin most eminently to appear The story of which times related both by Ethnick and Christian Authours in short is this The Emperour Adrian being willing it seems to vex the Jews caused an Idolatrous Temple to be erected in Jerusalem dedicating it to Jupiter and commanding withall a certain number of Romans and other Foreiners devoted to that Idol to dwell in the City that they might resort unto his Temple whereat the Jews who till then had a toleration both for the exercise of their Religion and their abode in that Countrey being thereby much provoked and because as some report the Emperour had issued out an Edict against their Circumcision They brake out into open Rebellion whereunto they were stirred up by a Seditious person who called himself by the name of Barchochebas that is the Son of a Star pretending thereby and making the Jews believe that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sent to be as a light from Heaven unto them according to the Prophecy of Balaam and that he would deliver them out of their present bondage To him they are easily perswaded to yeild their Consent being deluded by
Text that the ground and foundation of their faith to which they did so constantly adhere was no novelty nor yet such as did fail them or expire with them but being the rock of Ages was co-equal with the Church from the beginning and would be also the only sure foundation for all the faithful to the end of the World and that is Jesus Christ the same yesterday to day and for ever Understand it thus It is as if the Apostle should have said They well knew whom they believed and you may also know him too if you will do as they did for Jesus Christ who is the unchangeable God blessed for ever as they made him their strength and their support so he never failed them Be you therefore followers of them looking unto Jesus who as he led them into all truth and preserved them in it so will he likewise do the same unto you and to all others that shall come after you who believe in his Name for he is the same Yesterday to day and for ever We may now glean up by the way some Doctrinal conclusions which shall be but named that so we may come without any further protraction to taste of the sweetness that springeth abundantly from the Fountain of the Text. 1. We learn hereby That people ought to be followers of their Teachers as they follow Christ and no otherwise 2. The way to abide stedfast in the faith is to stick to the Foundation that is Jesus Christ who is still the same 3. Whosoever they be that make a sincere profession of the Gospel of Jesus Christ shall never be ashamed of it for Christ will constantly without any change own and maintain that faith which hath once and but once been delivered by him to his Saints being first and last like himself This was Preached Decem. 26. These things premised let us now come to the Text whereof if I should undertake to speak any thing in order to this time of Solemnity which yesterday to day and some daies following is held up and continued among us as if it had reference unto it I should then indeed declare myself to be but of yesterday and to know nothing at least to know nothing of my Text as I ought to know But the words in their genuine sense will not lead us unto any such matter It is Insignis locus as Mr. Calvin calls it a most excellent and remarkable Scripture speaking out the Lord Jesus Christ in his due Altitude making the World and every creature in all Ages subject unto him It is the Argument of both the Testaments and to use the words applied by a Religious and Reverend Bishop of our times to another Scripture like unto this Dr. John King Bishop of London It is the staff and supportation of Heaven and Earth they would both sink and all their joynts be severed were it not that Jesus Christ were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same yesterday to day and for ever And what shall I more say as the Apostle said Hebr. 11. When he had spoken much and there was much more behind but that time failed him Rather what should I not say For our Theatre at this time is not only within the narrow bounds of the World but extends beyond it and our Meditations in handling of this Subject are to reach from Eternity to Eternity Let us then duly poize it and with the good blessing of God make use of it for our Edification A three-fold interpretation may be given First Jesus Christ may be said to be The same yesterday to day and for ever in respect of his Divine Nature Secondly This may be applied unto him with a reference to the whole Creation Thirdly It may so likewise with a more especial respect unto his Church and People And here because it may seem strange that I should give so many several interpretations of this Text Give me leave to premise an Apology for my understanding herein I would not be too vehement in forcing a Text to carry a sense which is not directly or by warrantable deduction to be found within the compass thereof And it is a great wrong that is done unto Divine Truths when Scriptures are produced for their foundation that are not Homogenial with them As for this three-fold interpretation which I have here given of this Text though the last be commonly accounted the most proper as being consonant to the scope of the Apostle yet the other two are not to be rejected as inconsistent with the sense of the Holy Ghost therein Nay is there not a greater latitude then ordinary to be allowed unto it when it is propounded as a Divine Theorem cutting asunder the thread as it were of the former Discourse that the eyes and thoughts of all men that read it may in a singular manner be fixed upon it as on a general Sentence or Proposition comprehensive of more then might alonely have reference to the preceding Verse Surely there is somewhat extraordinary to be found in it Therefore as I have already prescribed my Method so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I shall now prosecute it The first Interpretation of the Text. THe first sense then or interpretation that is given of the Text is this Jesus Christ is the same yesterday to day and for ever in respect of his Divine Nature that is as he is God equal with the Father begotten of him from eternity to eternity And herein I am not alone but I find the Text so rendred both by Modern and Ancient Expositours Francis Junius writeth of it to the same purpose Hoc quarto ut Logicis lâ—quamur medo proprium Deitatis est This is a most transcendent property of the Godhead to be the same yesterday to day and for ever And from this very Text saith the same Authour do the Primitive Fathers in the purest times prove Jesus Christ to be the true and eternal God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 consubstantial and coessential with the Father and the Holy Ghost some instances of whom shall be given in the prosecution of this point Having then the concurrency of others that are sound and Orthodox whose Works praise them in the gates Let us consider how this Text may represent this great Mystery unto us in the several parts of it It is a most certain truth that the Divine Generation is that which gives unto the Son of God his personal Being which Generation is acknowledged by all that are sound in the faith to be from all eternity This is that which in the Text if it referreth at all to the eternal personality of Jesus Christ as it undoubtedly doth and will be here made to appear must be understood by Yesterday Jesus Christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same or The only He yesterday that is begotten of the Father from all eternity As the word Hodie to Day Psal 2.7 Psal 2.7 is by Expositours truly rendred not only for the Day
finite Righteousness of his be efficacious towards others if he had not been God as well as Man It was his Godhead that did put an infinite worth upon all that he did and upon all that he suffered and made his Righteousness to be of so diffusive a nature that it was enough to justifie all the World for the obedience of God to the rule of the Law and the blood of God given up to the sentence of the Law are infinitely comprehensive far beyond what either men or Angels are able to conceive Had it not been for this might not Divine Justice have justly rejected him as an Offender yea as the greatest of all other For his undertaking to justifie others would have been the greatest sin that ever was committed in the World as being the absurdest mockery and most insolent affront that ever was offered to the grand Majesty of God And would not Death and Hell likewise have still kept them in their clutches with triumphant Insultations trampling upon him making him to know that his Arm was too weak to subdue their Kingdom and that it would cost more to redeem those Souls they gaped for then such a poor man as he was ever able to compass But blessed for ever and ever be his Name as he happily began this noble Enterprize for his poor people so to his eternal honour and their everlasting salvation he did victoriously as became the Almighty God prevail therein Now therefore away with that cursed Anthropolatry of Socinians let it for ever be trodden under foot as unsavoury Salt having no relish in it acceptable either to God or man And let the consideration of what hath been here said provoke all that bear a sincere affection to the Lord Jesus to cry out and say It is time for the Lord to arise for they have made void thy Glory thy Crown and Dignity is despised thine Honour is laid in the dust and what can thy Servants do Awake awake therefore put on strength O Arm of the Lord awake as in the ancient daies in the Generations of old smite all thine Enemies in the hinder parts and put them to a perpetual shame make them to know themselves to be but men But make them also to know that thou art the Eternal and the immutable God yesterday to day and the same for ever Thus much for the second Branch of this Result of the Doctrine of Christs eternal Generation Thirdly Let all the people of God give unto Christ that honour which is meet by a ready hearkning to the Voice of his Word submitting cheerfully to his commands silencing all corrupt Reasonings that are apt to exalt themselves in the heart against the knowledge of his Will and captivating every thought to the obedience of his Gospel A service this is which is due unto him because even because he is the eternal begotten Son of God And this way of glorifying Christ must be joyn'd to the former otherwise in vain will it be to spend our zeal in vindicating the Name of the Lord Jesus against his Enemies if in the mean time we should dishonour him by our disobedience unto him and resuse to give him the hearing An honour which we find sometimes given unto men Vnto me saith Job Men gave car and waited and kept silence at my counsel Job 29.21 22. after my words they spake not again and my speech dropped upon them Now what alas are the words of poor Job put Noah and Daniel Moses and Samuel together with him but saltless and absurd words of folly and vanity unless they receive and Acumen and savour from Jesus Christ Eccles 12.10 to make them Verba desiderii acceptable words words according to his own form sound and wholesom For he saith Solomon giveth wisdom Pâ—o. 2.6 and out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding He is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the ancient standing and everlasting Oracle of Heaven who alone is to be consulted upon all occasions and whosoever speaks not according to his word it is because there is no light in them Es 8.20 his life alone being the light of men John 1.4 He John 1.4 as hath been said is that Ratio Primogenita the first begotten Reason from whence springeth all the Reason in the world of what nature soever it be whether in things Spiritual or in things temporal and therefore even in Reason there should be a cheerful Acquiessency in him as in our Center without any the least Contradiction Tergiversation or Deviation whatsoever Shortly then seeing it is he that giveth such a Mouth and Wisdom unto some of his peculiar Servants that the Wisdom and Spirit by which they speak is become irresistible Mat. 13.19 shall not his own Word which is the Word of the Kingdom not a forreign Exotick word as the words of men are but the pure proper native genuine Language of Heaven be worthy of all acceptation and of all veneration too since by the confession of his Enemies even when he was upon Earth cloathed with skin and flesh John 7.46 he spake as never man spake and by the testimony of the people that heard him when he taught them it was with authority But of this more may be said hereafter when we come to the third Interpretation of the Text considering the Lord Jesus in his relation to his Church to which this Subject will be also very suitable For the present let this word of Exhortation be received upon the account of Christ Eternity as he hath relation to the Father for in that respect he is as hath been made to appear the same yesterday to day and for ever Hearken therefore to his word because he is eternal And here give me leave to strengthen this Argument with some few Corroboratives that it may effectually bring the consciences of men under the power thereof First then let it be remembred the Father will have him to be thus honoured even upon this consideration of his eternal Relation unto himself as appears by that Voice which came from the excellent Glory saying This is my beloved Son Mat. 17.5 hear him Secondly Christ himself upon the same terms expects of us the same Service for when he had Pro. 8. declared his co-eternity with the Father what is the inference that he makes thereupon but this V. 32 33 34. Now therefore hearken unto me O ye children of men hear instruction and be wise and refuse it not Blessed is the man that heareth me watching daily at my Gates waiting at the posts of my door for who so findeth me findeth life c. 3. Add hereunto this Eternity of Christ is a clear evidence of his wisdom and gravity for if it be true which Job saith With the Ancient is wisdom and in length of daies understanding Job 12.12 It must be also most true that with him whose years have been before all Generations is surpassing wisdom and of his understanding
life Celestial but to have power to transmit the Influences of the Sun into other Corporeal Substances here upon Earth it would surely make the whole Creation to stand amazed and applaud the happiness of Mankind that it should be exalted to so great a dignity But behold here a greater wonder in Heaven a humane body is actually taken up into the Throne of Glory Crowned with Divine Majesty and Honour hypostatically united to the Divine Nature by virtue whereof the Holy Spirit drops down abundantly into the hearts of men making them all wheresoever it comes like unto God in Wisdom Righteousness and true Holiness and fruitful in all good works No wonder indeed that the Angels stoop down 1 Pet. 1.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not in respect of his personal being but quoad essentiam absolutam because the Essence of the Son is the very same that the Essence of the Father is desiring to look into the Gospel when they have such a blessed and glorious Pattern of it there before them in the Mount of God But this I say is the honour that Christ hath done unto us and therefore surely a mighty engagement lies upon us to give unto him also what honour we possibly can he sought not to dignifie himself or to make himself in any respect better when he took upon him our Nature for he was from everlasting God in the best and highest degree 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 very God in all the daies of Eternity so high that he could not be higher so great that he could not be greater so good that he could not be better but for our sakes he was made flesh and dwelt among us that we poor dust and ashes might dwell with him in Glory Ascribe we therefore unto him the excellency of his Merit let us be thankful unto him and speak well of his Name for his Name indeed is excellent and his praise above Heaven and Earth his Name also is wonderful therefore to be had in reverence by all them that are round about him wonderful in his Essence yesterday to day and for ever And having also done wondrously well for us as hath been said Now then let all the people praise him let all the people praise him by worshipping him with a divine Adoration by a zealous appearance for him against his Enemies by a ready hearkning to the Voice of his Word And thus have we done with this second Consequent of this Doctrine viz. With a confideration of it in reference to the people of God Lastly Seeing it is so that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday to day and for ever in respect of his Divine Nature Then let all the Enemies of this Eternal Son of God cover their faces with shame who have not only called into question this his Honour but with the Sophistry of Hell in the sight of all the World and before the Sun have most impiously and impudently argued against it Such were Cerinthus Ebion Sabellius Samosatenus Arius Photinus and all those Alogi of old such have been Servetus Socinus Valentinus Gentilis and their followers of late all of them professed and open Enemies against the Godhead of Christ It hath been already said that it is a duty incumbent upon all the faithful people of God zealously to vindicate the name and Dignity of the Son of God against all his Enemies But we shall now see how he himself doth marvellously appear in his own vindication for it may well be said of him as it is in Job He is wise in heart Job 9.4 and mighty in strength to maintain his own Glory and therefore whosoever they be that harden themselves against him shall not prosper They shall perish but he shall endure they shall consume into smoak shall they consume away but he is the same and his years shall have no end We use to say proverbially of the Moon which is called the faithful Witness in Heaven that she will still keep on her course Ps 89.33 though all the Dogs upon earth should stand barking at her Assuredly the Lord Jesus Christ will be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same God still yesterday to day and for ever though the foolish man reproacheth him daily and the tumult of those that rise up against him ascendeth continually But will he indeed be the same Ps 74.22 23. We may then conclude upon it infallibly that he will as he hath ever done make all his Enemies the Spawn of the old Serpent his inveterate Adversary to lick the dust Not to speak here of those who are Enemies against Christ as he is Mediatour of which sort I believe the World is full and it is to be feared that too many who even eat of his bread Ps 41.9 do lift up the heel against him Let us consider how his hand hath been stretched forth against those that have denied his Godhead Cerinthus the first that we read of that vomited out this Blasphemy viz. That Christ was but a meer man and not co-eternal with the Father against whom the Evangelist S. John as Irenaus reports it was inspired by the Holy Ghost to write that Gospel which goeth under his name See Doctor Featly in his Dipper dipt This Cerinthus as some Historians write resorting to a common Bath where he met with the said Evangelist was crushed to death by the fall of the house as soon as the beloved Disciple who made hast to shun him was got out of the door Julian the Apostate whom all Generations shall call cursed being wont in a scoffing manner to call the Lord Jesus the Galilaean and the Carpenters Son gave out threatnings that upon his return from the Parthian War wherein he was then engaged he would utterly destroy all those that believed in Christ But he was before his return cut off in a most eminent manner Vengeance not suffering him to live wounded he was mortally in the said Battel uncertain whether by an Angel or man which when he perceived he filled his hand with his own blood and threw it into the aire uttering these words Vicisti Galilaee vicisti Thou hast overcome Galilaean thou hast overcome Eusebius c. c. And when his filthy Soul was about to disgorge it self out of his body he grumbled out with a hollow voice the Devil then as it is like ceasing upon him this horrid Blasphemy Saturato te nunc Nazarene Now satisfie thy self O Nazaren A little before the death of this bloody wretch Libanius Julian's Teacher in Paganism scoffingly asked a Christian Scholemaster what the Carpenters Son was then working for his Disciples he Prophetically answered Parat Juliano Loculum He prepareth a Coffin for Julian who was about that instant time smitten by the just hand of the Almighty Julian Uncle to the aforenamed Julian used commonly the like blasphemy against Jesus Christ and being willing in what he could to vent his malice against him rush'd
as if he could not have been perfect without his Creatures for he was from all Eternity ' 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sufficiently pleased with his own Perfection but willing he was that other things might have a Being to the end he might communicate his Goodness unto them And as he began this Work for that end so he continued still the same for his Goodness extended over all the World He is good unto all saith David and his tender mercies are ever all his works Ps 145.9 Psal 145. His Power in like manner was the same from first to last without Diminution or Augmentation without weariness or fainting he rested not that is He ceased not till he had finished all and then pleased himself upon the Sabbath-day rejoycing in all the Works that he had made And now to sum up this whole matter Jesus Christ we see is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same in the work of Creation First The same with the Father in that eternal Counsel and Decree from whence all things had their first Rise and Original Secondly The same with the Father in the execution of that Decree framing and fashioning every Creature in his Rank placing them all in their several Stations exactly according to the primary Pattern and Tenour of that Decree Thirdly The same without any Coadjutour in the mighty Work that he undertook his own and only Omnipotent Fiat gave a Being to the World and all the parts of it without which they had never been Finally The same from first to last without any variableness or shadow of turning exercising his Divine Wisdom Goodness and Power throughout the whole Creation Many are the Inferences that might be derived from this Consideration but we shall not extend our Discourse beyond the due boundary of the Text Only somewhat we will observe that may be for further edification First then this Doctrine may lead us to a further knowledge of our Lord and great Redeemer JESUS CHRIST for saith the Apostle Rom. 1.20 The invisible things of him from the Creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal Power and Godhead Walk we therefore about this Creation go round about it tell the parts thereof mark well the beauty of the Frame the admirable Order of this great and goodly Fabrick consider the several Palaces that are set therein for Angels for Men and the various lustre which the Lights do transmit there being one glory of the Sun another of the Moon and another glory of the Stars that we may know it for our selves and tell it to the Generations following that Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised his Greatness is unsearchable Ps 145.3 It is indeed unto all the faithful people of God whose hearts are raised up to a spiritual elevation a most pleasing kind of Geography as a reverend Bishop of our Church calls it in this large Map of the created World Bishop of Chi. in the Celestial and Terrestrial Globe to contemplate the Creatour for the works of the Lord are great saith the Psalmist sought out by all them that have pleasure therein Ps 111.2 But when in their search they happen to light upon the soot-steps of the Creatour by the whisperings of his Spirit which is very frequent and common unto them O what an incomparable pleasure is it then to pursue the Tract Hos 6.3 and to follow on to know the Lord So doth the Psalmist in the fore-cited place His work saith he is honourable and glorious Ps 111.3 and then followeth His righteousness endureth for ever Which way of Divine Speculation through the Creatures whereby we may ascend in our Meditations above every name that is named Ps 83.19 to the knowledge of him whose Name alone is Jehovah hath God himself caught us As when he instructed Job and would convince him of his rashness and folly in his peremptory Argutations making him also sensible of his own Almighty Power he brings the work of his Creation into remembrance before him Job 38 39 40 41. viz. Things in Heaven things in Earth and things in the Deep When we shall now therefore consider the Heavens not only this lower Heaven which in some sense may be called our Heaven wherein we and other poor mortal Creatures do breath which we may feel with our hands and wherein the Arm of the most High is many times stretched forth in mighty Winds and roaring Thunders and blazing Comets able to make the very Pillars of the World to tremble yea and to cool the courage and daunt the Spirits of all Atheistical Caligula's But those above especially which we see with our eyes at a greater distance so great that it is a wonder saith a Contemplative Divine we can look up to so admirable a height Bishop Hall and that the very eye is not tired in the way ascribed unto God by David as his Peculiar with this distinguishing term of Appropriation Ps 8.3 Thy Heavens Psal 8.3 Those which are the curious and exquisite Master-pieces of God's fingers Amos 9.6 for there saith the Prophet hath he built his Stories that is his Spheres or Ascentions from the Moon which is the lowest to the Stars which is the highest that can be discerned by men on Earth in which regard it may be though it be commonly taken for David's Night-meditation these two are only mentioned Ps 8.3 comprizing all the rest When we consider further the wonders of God in the Deep wherein saith the Psalmist Ps 104 25 26. are things creeping innumerable both small and great Beasts There go the Ships those moving Islands which bring the several Nations of the World into acquaintance one with another which suck the abundance of the Seas Deut. 33.19 Es 23.3 and Treasures hid in the Sand which reap the Harvest of the Water far surpassing the harvest of the Ground the artificiallest Wonder that ever was framed There goeth that Leviathan the wonder of that Nature the King over all the children of Pride made to play therein Job 41. whose wonderful parts and comely proportion is admirably described by the Tongue of the Learned Bishop King upon Jonas even the learnedst Tongue that the Holy Ghost had as one skilful in Scripture-learning sweetly expresseth it Yea there are the goings of the great God himself whose Name is Wonderful for the Sea is his and he made it Ps 95.5 and his Spirit still moveth upon these waters as it did formerly For as a King he sitteth upon the Water-floods saith the Psalm his power and providence walking constantly in state upon the Surface of them Ps 29.10 And though the proud Waves do rage that the very Mountains shake at the swelling thereof because they are stinted in their Current Job 38.10 11. Ps 104.9 and cannot with a full carrere turn again to cover the Earth yet he still keeps them under
his command shutting them up with Bars and Bolts within their decreed place Jer. 3.22 giving a charge to the poor inconsiderable Sand to be a boundary unto them and though they roar all like Bears and Lions yet they are not able to pass over it When we consider also the Earth the Center of the World as it may be called how stedfast and immoveable That though it be founded on the Seas and established on the Floods Job 38.6 Ps 104.5 Ps 104.24 yet the Corner-stone should be so surely laid that the Foundation shall not be removed for ever How vast and inexhaustible the Treasures thereof are it being full of the Riches of God How excellent and glorious the Attire wherewith it is every year adorned How fertile her Womb from whence such a numerous multitude of living Creatures do derive their Pedigree and Extraction Her uberous Breasts also still sending forth millions of streams to feed as with milk both her young and old Fruit In a word How that from it is ministred matter to defend or offend feed or famish cherish or starve make blind or receive sight to overturn or build up to procure health or sickness soe 's or friends peace or war pleasure or pain sorrow or mirth sleep or watchfulness sores or soundness barenness or fruitfulness life or death and what not When I say we consider these things and amongst them all in a more especial manner our selves made indeed a little lower then the Angels Ps 8.5 6. but crowned with glory and worship having dominion over the works of Gods hands How can we choose but be filled with admiration and say O Lord our Lord how excellent is thy Name in all the World How glorious is thy Majesty How infinite is thy Power How incomprehensible is thy Greatness Thou who art the great Jehovah Exod. 15.11 Ps 89.13 the first born of every Creature the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that givest a Being to this All Who is like unto thee glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders Surely thou hast a mighty Arm strong is thy hand and high is thy right hand Let therefore all the Earth fear thy Name Ps 33.8 yea let all the Inhabitants of the World stand in awe of thee and yield their homage unto thee And whatsoever is excellent in them let them lay it at thy feet and say Worthy art thou Rev. 4.11 O Lord to receive glory and honour and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created Secondly Since it is so let then the Lord Jesus Christ enjoy that absolute Sovereignty which he hath as his Peculiar over all the Earth to dispose of it as seemeth good unto him for it is the greatest right that possibly can be in the world imagined to have a peculiar Title to those things that are of one's own making Poor Creatures will stand much upon their Priviledge herein Hath not the Potter power over the Clay of the same lump when he hath prepared and fitted it for his use to make one Vessel unto honour and another to dishonour And hath not the Gardener likewise liberty when he hath contrived his Plat in stretching forth his Line and treading out his Beds and Borders according to his mind to dispose of them for his delight planting and transplanting where and when and as often as he pleaseth Is it not lawful for me said the Master of the Vineyard to do what I will with mine own This liberty is justifiable even by the Law of Nature Seeing then that Jesus Christ is the Creatour of all things and that therefore the Earth is his and the fulness thereof having received from him both matter and form which no Creature in the world can contribute to the work of his hands it is but very meet and requisite that his power should be paramount at all times in giving of it to whomsoever he will and that all men of what Rank soever and to what Right soever they do pretend to be Paravale unto him In vain it is to make a flourish and according to the fashion of the world in a proud insolent manner to boast of our Pedigree and Ancestours and that such an Estate is derived unto me through the prudence and providence of my wise and careful Progenitours whereby I have a Propriety in it and therefore to be perpetuated to me and my Posterity for ever Alas alas these words are but wind empty and foolish only they carry with them an arrogant encroachment upon that supreme Right which belongs unto Jesus Christ as if their present possession notwithstanding their frequent forfeitures by their multiplied disobediences did settle upon them such an entailment as that it lay not in the power of the Lord of the whole Earth to make a re-entry whensoever he pleased and to pass a new Grant unto others that are not of their House and Linage But the wind shall blow no man to preferment out of what quarter soever it may arise for the Prophet tells us Psal 75.6 Promotion cometh neither from the East nor from the West Ps 75.6 nor from the South or Wilderness as the word is rendred containing both North and South Neque à desertis montibus saith S. Hierom. Canaan being on both side begirt with Deserts But God is the Judge in this case as well as in any else He putteth down one and setteth up another V. 7. which he can and doth justifie very well to the silencing of all contradiction even upon the account of his Creatourship I have saith he Made the Earth the Man and the Beast that are upon the ground by my great power and by my out-stretched Arm Jer. 27.5 and have given it unto whom it seemeth meet unto me And thus have we seen how Jesus Christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same mighty God or the only He as the word signifies in the work of Creation CHAP II. How the Text is Applicable to Christ in the work of Preservation JEsus Christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same to Day in the work of Preservation and Government of the World which he was Yesterday in the work of Creation For Non minor est virtus quam condere facta tueri There is as much need of power and wisdom to Preserve as to Create What avails it to plant a Garrison without a Captain to defend it To Rigg a Ship for the Sea without a Pilot to guide it To throw Seed into the Ground with an expectation of an encrease at Harvest unless means be used to preserve it from the Incursions of wild Beasts which would utterly destroy it So unless the Lord Jesus Christ be the Preserver of that which he hath created be is not the same to Day which he was Yesterday his years are expired that is his Wisdom Power and Goodness in order to the Creatures have
came unto his own John 1 11. c. is to be understood viz. with a reference not unto any particular people as it is commonly interpreted of the Jews the Context about it utterly excluding that Interpretation but unto Mankind that is to his Rational Creature whereof he being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The man per excellentiam 1 Tim 2.5 1 Tim. 2.5 as being the Original of the whole Species that is the Spirit and Life he therefore like a good Father makes provision for his own that they may live under him quietly and peaceably one with another In order hereunto did this great Jehovah himself in the beginning rule over man exercising his absolute Sovereignty as seemed good unto him keeping Court as we may say and proceeding against Delinquents Adam Eve Cain the old World and there was none in a political Subordination unto him for God gave Sovereignty to Adam over Fishes and Birds Gen. 1.28 Pastores pecorum magis quam Reges gentium Gen. 11.25 c. not over Creatures made to his own likeness And the first Righteous men we read of were rather Shepherds and Herdmen over Beasts then Kings over Nations the name of Servant never imposed in Scripture till Noah bestowed it upon his accursed Son saying Cursed be Canaan a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren Remarkably not Cham though the Offendour possibly because he was one of the old World not to be brought under such a censure whereupon it is probable as one makes the Collection Nomen illud culpa meruit non Natura it was not Nature that brought that Denomination into the World but sin So that it appeareth The Lord alone as saith the Psalmist was our King of old and for a space the justice that was done upon earth he did it himself In those daies to speak of this matter in the words of Moses In those years of many Generations when the most High not Adam Deut. 32.7 8.12 Seth Enos or any of the rest divided to the Nations their Inheritance when he separated the Sons of Adam the Lord alone was at that time the Leader and there was no strange God with him But in that golden Age there rose up a Generation of Rebels the Progeny of that Renegado Cain who would not submit themselves to that incomparable Government which was then established in the World but contrary to the Crown and Dignity of Heaven Gen. 6.11 12 13. of Jesher signifying righteousness or uprightness Gen. 6.3 corrupted their waies and filled the whole Earth with their Violence Gen. 6.11 12 13. This Jeshurun whom God made upright Ec. 7.29 grew lawless and unruly and like a fatted Bullock kicked against his Ieeder Now therefore because God would not have his Spirit alwaies to strive in that way and kind with man who was but flesh Gen. 6.3 He was pleased after he had made himself known by the Judgment which he executed upon the World of the ungodly to constitute a subordinate Power in his stead giving out his Decree for the confirmation of it in these words Who so hereafter sheddeth mans blood Gen. 9.6 by man shall his blood be shed The judiciaâ—y form of Gods proceeding against Man-slayers before was not it seems to transmit them over to men to be punished nor himself to punish them with death Gen. 4 15.23.24 as may be seen in the case of Cain and Lamech But now man is ordained to be a Servant unto God herein and to execute upon those of his own kind the Judgment written yet not every man neither for there is an express Law to the contrary Thou shalt not kill this honour hath the Magistrate who under God hath Jus vitae necis Power to punish and to preserve according to the laws and orders given him by his Superiour that is Jesus Christ who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords Irenaeus a holy and peaceable Servant of the Church in the Primitive times gives us his judgment concerning the Introduction of this subordinate Power into the World in these words Because man would not know the fear of the Lord therefore did God put upon him the fear of man that so fearing humane Laws men should not devour and consume one the other as the manner of Fishes is Clearly then the Powers that be are ordained of God and not only so but he who exerciseth the power let him be of what form soever in respect of the power or of what profession soever in respect of Religion or by what lawful way soever he came at first to be vested in his Authority whether by Conquest or by Contract or by Election or by Inheritance he I say with the Apostle is the Minister of God yea and more then so he is the Minister of God to man for good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 13.4 Rom 13.4 The Article there added is very emphatical noting the good which it attends upon to be very remarkable If it be demanded what is that Good I answer much every way Look what good the Son of God our Lord Jesus Christ was to bring unto the Sons of men if he himself had still continued his Personal Reign among them the same I say not in a gradual sense but Analogical is to be and undoubtedly shall be if the sins of men do not hinder it the blessed effect of those subordinate Powers that are now under him throughout the World If any shall desire to see this General branched out into particulars they may take notice of a fourfold good that under Christ accrueth unto men by Government viz. Natural Moral Civil Spiritual Natural Is it not good to have our Lives and the Lives of our Posterities preserved and secured against the rage and fury of unreasonable men whose feet are swift to shed bloud as Solomon speaks Pro. 1.16 Pro. 1.16 This is the fruit of Government Moral Is it not good to have Wickedness suppressed and Righteousness encouraged and advanced For Righteousness saith Solomon exalteth a Nation but sin is the shame of any people Pro. 14.34 This also is the fruit of Government Civil Is it not good that Laws and Ordinances be established for where no Law is to invert the Apostles word there will be all kind of Transgression Laws I say by virtue whereof men may sit quietly and safely under their Vines and Figg-trees and enjoy the good of all their labours live peaceably together Mich. 4.4 holding society one with another thereby preserving the honour of Mankind which of all Creatures under the Sun is the most lovely and most loving one to another if the malice of Hell did not mingle with them This again is the fruit of Government Spiritual It is very good doubtless that true Religion should prosper and flourish in a Nation that the Ordinances of Divine Worship be set up in their purity for this is the glory of a people But what alas would
involved in First It hath lost a great part of that Beauty and Goodness which the Creatour put upon it in the Beginning it being by the sin of man much dulled and disabled to Act and Communicate its Virtues as it did at the first Creation And though Nature doth not according to the Vulgar Opinion meerly through the length of time as she groweth in years fall into decay yet it cannot be denied but the Primitive vigour of the Creature is much impaired and that she hath lost much of that Comeliness which was upon her before the Curse came forth from God for Mans Disobedience Secondly There is a necessity lies upon the Creature to do Service unto the Enemies of the Creatour The Sun must shine not only upon the Good but also upon the Evil and the Rain must fall upon the Just and on the Unjust The Influences of Heaven make fruitful the Field of the Wicked as well as the Field of the most Righteous man in the World the Earth giveth out of her fulness to one as to another and is forced to receive into her Bowels the Ungodly as well as the Godly And this a sore Bondage unto it that makes it to be still groaning till the time comes wherein it shall vomit up again the Carkasses of the Reprobate as a Morsel that it could not well digest Thirdly Whereas the Creature is still proclaiming the Glory of God being unto Mankinde as it is observed God's Leiger-book By Dr. Henry Kâ—ng now Bishop of Chich. wherein his marvellous Acts are fairly written every Species a Line in that Book and every peculiar Work a Character for Man to read his Maker And when the curiosity of the Stile and variety of the Story therein contained might in reason invite all eyes to run it over to the end that the invisible things of God even his eternal Power and Godhead might be clearly seen by the things that are made when the Creature I say is thus industrious in her kinde to teach man the knowledge of God must it not needs be a vexation unto her to see him so stupid and indocible that he will not learn Fourthly It is a misery to the Creature that there is through the sin of man such a preposterous inverting of that Order which the Creatour hath in his wisdom established and such a Hysteren Proteron to be found in the Creation viz. That he whom she gloried in at first to be her Lord and Governour in regard of those excellent Abilities that were in him for that end should now so far degenerate as to be in many respects inferiour to brute Beasts For very clear it is that divers Beasts surpass man in many Virtues as the Dove in simplicity the Ant and the Bee in diligence and industry the Stork in humanity the Dog in love and fidelity the Lamb in meekness the Lion in magnanimity the Serpent in wisdom the Oxe and the Ass in a thankful acknowledgment of benefits and all of them in sobriety and contentment But which is worse as touching Vice therein Man surpasseth all Beasts being more treacherous and cruel then a Wolf craftier then a Fox prouder then a Peacock more voluptuous and unthankful then a Hog and more dangerous then a Viper Yea to fill up the measure of his Evils those pestilent and noxious inclinations which are alone and particularly in divers Beasts are oftentimes found to be altogether Concatenated or at least a great part of them in one man for there are many men courteous proud cruel envious unthankful and Oppressours all at one time And this is a sore Evil with which the poor Creature is much grieved seeing and beholding her Darling who was so Divinely qualified in his first Instalment for that Dominion which was granted unto him to be now eccentrick from his Honour destitute of Understanding and to be a Companion yea to be inferiour to the Beasts that perish Fifthly Add unto this that which is indeed an Addition to the former Misery and a great aggravation of it This Creature so excellent in her first appearance so industrions and indefatigable in promoting the Glory of her Creatour so tenderly affectionate towards Mankinde as hath been said yet is put to a most vile Drudgery being made though unwillingly the Instrument of Man's sin which is in truth the most sordid kinde of slavery that it could possibly be exposed unto Yea it is never at rest being continually made to dance Attendance after a hard Master for there is not any sin that can by man be likely produc'd into Act but the Creature must in some respect or other be serviceable thereunto Ps 19 5. The Sun saith the Psalmist rejoyceth like a Giant to run his Race But alas what a check is it unto his joy when he is taken up every hour by the way to be a Guard and Convoy unto sinful men in the pursuance of their ungodly Lusts The Earth in like manner lieth under this Servitude for though we hear often of her Childrens Tripudiations and Exultations the little Hills rejoycing on every side and the Valleys when they stand thick with Corn that they do laugh and sing yet sure we are she is not without her Trepidations neither and that because of man's sin wherein she is also involved whether she will or no. It was once spoken by Nabal in a churlish manner against good David but the Earth may speak it out of a just Indignation against a sort of riotous Unthrifts whom it fosters every day Shall I take my Bread and my Water and my Flesh and give it to such a Crew Alas poor Creature it is indeed sore against thy will to pour out Drink to fill the Drunkard to provide Meat to cram the Glutton to expose thy Territories to the boundless desires of the Ambitious to empty thy self to yield choice of Pleasures to the Voluptuous But what remedy If wretched man will Lord it imperiously and make thy Service more and more insupportable through his sin and folly who can help it It is an Affliction that is not to be avoided imposed upon thy shoulders by the just hand of the Almighty God because of thy Propinquity with him who consented to the Devil in a plain Rebellion against the Majesty of Heaven And thus we see some particulars of the Creatures misery though more might be added and what Vanity and Bondage it is made subject unto Secondy This Creature notwithstanding is in hope to be delivered and therefore waiteth and groaneth and travelleth in pain till the time of her Deliverance cometh In which words our Apostle useth a certain Figure called Prosopopaeia whereby humane Actions and Affections are ascribed unto that Creature to whom they do improperly belong Which figure we finde often made use of by the Prophets when they bring in the Flouds clapping their hands the Hills skipping the Mountains leaping the Heavens speaking the Land mourning c. Not that any should
have attained to that Eternal Glory even as good Fathers are wont for the honour of their Children to put some Ornaments upon their Servants Piscator also upon the same place writeth thus Rom. 8. Coelum Terra inn vabuntur quum Patâ—fiet Gloria filiorum Dei Heaven and Earth shall then be renewed when the Glory of Gods Children shall appear Ravanellus likewise a late Writer in his Bibliothecâ Sacrâ saith Etiam Terra quoad substantiam erit Eterna Yea the Earth in respect of its substance shall be Eternal Lastly To name no more Brentius Hom. 53. in Luc. thus argueth Num Coelum Terra transibunt ita ut nihil eorum omnino maneat Minime omnium non transibunt omnino sed mutabuntur abjicient vestimentum corruptionis induent novam vestem incorruptionis Futura quidem Coeli ac Terrae mutatio non autem in totum abolitio Shall Heaven and Earth so pass away that nothing of them shall remain No verily they shall not altogether pass away but they shall be changed they shall cast of the Garment of Corruption and put on a new Robe of Incorruption There shall indeed be a change of Heaven and Earth but not a total Abolition I have not here mentioned any of our own Writers who notwithstanding many of them Grave Learned and Reverend Divines whose Works praise them in the Gates do unanimously Assert the same Doctrine And thus we see the concurrent Judgment of Writers both old and new inclining this way viz. That it is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 only as the Apostle's word is in another place 1 Cor. 7.31 and which some construe to this very purpose The Figure the Habit the Form and Fashion of the World that shall hereafter pass away not the Substance Nature and Essence of it for that shall be purified and perpetuated in Glory to all Eternity And though the Scripture speaks of a Conflagration Dissolution and Preterition which they who are of a contrary judgment in this Point do much insist upon yet since they speak no where of an utter Abolition or Annihilation we may with safety abide by what we have declared But here take this Caution it behoves us in these matters to be wise according to so briety and in all humble mod esty to content our selves with this general discovery of the renovation and restauration of the World for we see the Apostle speaks of it in the general term of the Creature meaning the frame and sabrick of the World as hath been said consisting of Celestial and Elementary Regions Now if we should enter too curiously to search what Creatures else of the World shall be restored what place shall contain them what actions they shall have what properties they shall be endued with wherein they shall be serviceable and useful to the Glorified Saints c. If we should I say launch out to venturously into this Deep we shall not have the Cynosure of the word to guide us and so shall certainly fall upon the flats of our own foolish Imaginations or run desperately upon the Rocks of most dangerous errours such as Cerinthus and the Chiliasts have done It is enough for us that we have this general discovery made of the Minde of God herein viz. That the Creature shall be restored and delivered from the bondage of corruption into or for the glorious liberty of the Children of God and that a reparation shall be made by Jesus Christ of that which sin hath so much defaced and disordered And now to conclude Doth not all this evidently speak out that Christ will not fail in the exercise of his power over the World But as he began to manifest it in the Creation and to continue it in the preservation so he will perfect it in the restauration of all things declaring himself thereby mightily to be the Son of God Yesterday to Day and the same for ever But before we dismiss this Point Let us as we have done with the former bring in some few Corolaries to wait upon it for it is not fit that a doctrine of so noble a sublimity should be without Attendants that may some way be useful for the Church of God The first then that appears comes with a rule or a rod to rectify an old errour newly revived For if this truth be admitted as it must unless wee will shut out the Lord Jesus Christ from a most eminent part of his Glory that is then an Errour to be exploded and repented of which is very confidently maintained by many in these times concerning that outward Glory made up of a temporal peace safety and happiness with an affluence of all good things which they have imagined the Saints shall here in this life be Partakers of before the end of the World grounding their opinion upon such Places of Scripture which make mention of this restauration that we have insisted upon But if this Restauration shall not be till after the general Judgment as hath been made to appear I hope such Persons who have been of that erroneous perswasion will finde cause hereafter to be of another Minde I will not deny but that upon the downfal of that Man of Sin the Church may shine forth in a more beauteous lustre in respect of spiritual Glory before the end commeth then now at this present can be discerned in her but whatsoever that may prove it shall certainly be attended with much trouble from the World and from the Divel for the promises that are made to the Church while she is Militant Mor. 10 30 2 Tim 3.12 are accompanied with this Proviso viz. That she must look for Persecution And therefore to look for a Kingdom of Saints here which shall continue a thousand years free from troubles is so Vain a thing that methinks without a strong delusion of Satan it should not enter into the hearts of any that pretend to be acquainted with the Counsels of God in his Word It is not meet that the Spouse should finde her way through Ease and Pleasure when her Lord is gone before through much Labour and Sorrow The Disciple is not to be above his Master nor the Servant to be above his Lord It is enough for the Disciple that he be as his Master and for the Servant that he hee as his Lord If the Master of the House was rejected and despised by men yea made a Man of Sorrows while he was here upon earth Es 53.3 how much more should the same Lot befal those of his household It will assuredly be the Glory of the Church while she is in her warfare to be still in the feild fighting the Lords battels and to resemble the Captain of her Salvation who went through Water and Bloud and was made perfect by sufferings For him Luk. 24.26 2 Tim. 2.12 Mat. 30.23 He ought as he said of himself to suffer and so to enter into his Glory And surely the Church must follow
yea and the greater was our sin that after we had some large experience of this great Glory wherein Divine Goodness had put us we should through our absurd folly deprive our selves of it This for the second Consideration arising from the said Doctrine The third brings a Light in her hand to guide us in the first Resurrection and to shew us the Glory of the second First we are hereby taught to fit and prepare our selves against this time of Restauration viz. By raising up our dull heavy and carnal hearts from this present evil World where they are too apt to lie groveling and by setting our Affections on things above and upon this Comfortable time of Refreshing wherein the Lord Jesus will freely and fully manifest his love and faithfulness unto his beloved people And indeed seeing that these things shall be dissolved and again restored What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness Scarce any among us I dare say but do look for new Heavens and new Earth that is expect Salvation in the Day of the Lord. But can we be so deluded as to think that the old Adam should bring us thither A Delusion notwithstanding it is wherewith multitudes are miserably deceived But beloved Brethren let it be remembred that the flaming Sword which keeps the Way to the Tree of Life will never suffer any to enter there under such a Conduct There must dwell nothing but Righteousness neither shall there in any wise enter into it any thing that defileth Rev. 21.27 nor whosoever worketh Abomination or maketh a Lye If therefore we carry our sins along with us we shall certainly stand without amongst Dogs and never be admitted Rouze up thy Soul therefore O poor Sinner and with Indignation shake off whatsoever it be that may hinder thee from having a part in that Glory that shall be revealed For be assured the Lord Jesus Christ will never suffer his new Creation to be sullied with the least spot or stain of Uncleanness He will not have his poor Creature to be ever groaning and when he hath once freed it it shall be freed for ever none but the new Creature shall be the Inhabitant of his new Creation Let all old things then be done away both in our hearts and in our lives and let all things become new I shall conclude this first Branch with that excellent Gloss of Mr. Calvin upon that of the Apostle 2 Pet. 3.10 Non subtiliter de igne procellâ c. Disputare voluit Apostolus sed tantum inde elicere exhortationem quam mox attexit nempe ut enitamur nos quoque advitoe novitatem The Apostle's design is not subtlely to argue about the sire c. that shall be at the last Day but from the consideration of the change that shall then be to draw forth an Exhortation to perswade men to newness of life So say I let us not busie our selves about too curious an inquisition after the manner of that change that shall be made of the Heavens and of the Earth rather it should be our care according to the advice and warning of the Apostle that seeing we look for such things as new Heavens and new Earth 2 Pet. 3.14 to give all diligence that we be found of him who is the faithful Authour of this Change in peace without spot and blameless And thus are we guided by this Doctrine to the first Resurrection Secondly it will shew unto us somewhat of the Glory of the second For according to the Power and Wisdom of the Workman so is the Work to be expected that cometh out of his hands if he be able and expert in his Art whatsoever it be his Work will be answerable Now it is to be presumed that Jesus Christ who is the Wisdom of God and the Power of God will like himself produce a most glorious Work in his Restauration of all things for herein also he will be the same which he was from the Beginning What therefore the Prophet spake in a certain place may very well be applied to this purpose Es 64.4 Since the beginning of the World for in the beginning there was some kinde of resemblance of that Glory which shall be Eye hath not seen as the Apostle renders it nor Ear heard 1 Cor. 2.9 neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him The Eye of man hath seen much the Ear perhaps hath heard more but the Heart conceiveth more then Eye hath seen or Ear heard but Eye Ear and Heart are all too narrow to comprehend or describe the exceeding weight and superlative Greatness of that fulness of Glory It may suffice that it is of his wise and powerful ordering who is the same yesterday to day and for ever In the 14 of S. John the Lord speaketh to his Disciples in these words which have a measure that reacheth unto all Believers I go John 14.2 saith he to prepare a place for you a place with himself that where he is there also may his people be Being then I say of his preparation who is the Lord of Glory and of his Prepossession too how can it possibly be but exceeding Glorious Kings do not use to erect Cottages but set forth their Magnificence in sumptuous Buildings How stately then shall that place be which is prepared by Jesus Christ the King of Glory It was as he himself faith elsewhere prepared from the foundation of the World Mat 25.34 Yet after some thousands of years he saith again I go to prepare a place for you Once more behold here by the way how Jesus Christ is still 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same that excellent Work which he made and prepared at first and which was afterwards lost and forfeited by man'd Disobedience he will now prepare it again for all those that believe in him for in him there is no variableness nor ever shall be That Preparation therefore that is to be made will be it seems in part the Reparation of that which was made in the Beginning In part I say for it will not become us to mete out or to set Bounds to this great Work of Christ by any Topographical Delineations otherwise then we have the Word to guide us neither indeed can we positively determine what it shall be 1 John 3.2 It doth not yet appear saith the Evangelist what we our selves shall be though for the present we be the Children of God And what the Glory was of our first Creation we are not able in this our low estate to finde out much less do we know what that Glory is which Christ is preparing But notwithstanding this is certain because it is revealed there shall be new Heavens and a new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness and where Righteousness dwelleth there must needs be great Glory For if Righteousness here where she is but a Forreiner
and meets with many checks Pro. 14.34 exalteth a Nation as Solomon tells us much more will she Adorn and Beautifie the place of her own Habitation where she shineth without any Eclipse and where she ruleth without any Disturbance or Resistance whatsoever A most Glorious Provision doubtless it will appear to be which will also abundantly satisfie When God was about to bring his people into the Land of Promise he tells them what was prepared for them viz. Great and goodly Cities which they builded not Deut. 6.10 11. House full of all good things which they filled not Wells digged which they digged not Vineyards and Olive Trees which they planted not all should be made ready to their hands against their coming thither so shall there be a preparation made by Jesus Christ for the Saints in the life that is to come of all things whatsoever their Souls can desire And since we have made mention of this Land which the Lord promised to give unto his People when he brought them up out of Egypt and which is indeed a Symbol of the Eternal Inheritance let us proceed a little further in this matter confining our Mediations to a short Parallel between that Land and the Celestial Canaan which shall be given to all that are Israelites indeed for their everlasting Possession In the third Chapter of Exodus Ex 3.8 God tells Moses that he would bring his People unto a good Land and a large unto a Land flowing with Milk and Honey unto the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebuzites Now since that Heaven and Earth as they are prepared by Jesus Christ shall be the Receptacle of the Saints hereafter let us in a short Survey see how they will both answer their Type in the several parts thereof First for Heaven It is surely a good Land to speak of it by way of Allusion the Holy Ghost in Scripture leadeth us herein and that in this very Particular Heb. 11.16 calling Heaven a Country Good in respect of Vicinity for where there are good Neighbours the place is commonly by those that are good the better liked Now in Heaven there dwells Goodness it self a good God and a good Saviour good Angels and good Souls All very Good As it is therefore a part of the Torment which the Damned suffer in Hell to be ever in the Company of evil Angels and ugly Devils so surely is it a great happiness to be ever in the sweet Society of Saints and glorious Angels nay of God himself Good then in respect of good Neighbourhood good also in respect of the abundance of good things that are there flowing I say not with Milk and Honey but with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory There are good things for the Soul and good things for the Body which being largely laid open by others we shall not insist upon them here There is the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good but not of the least Evil whatsoever How good is it to behold the King in his Beauty Es 33.17 1 John 3.2 to see God as he is in his Glory This is the Ne plus ultra of the Soul hitherto she aspires and no further For in his presence is fulness of joy and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore This is the Priviledge of that place alone and therefore surely it is very good so good that it is impossible it should be better and impossible also for us that are so evil as yet fully to know it Well was it therefore sung in that Anthem of old Quis Chalcedon Quis Jacinthus Norunt illi qui sunt intus When once we come to taste of this Goodness and to drink of the River of these Pleasures we shall then see that clearly which now we can see but through a Glass darkly It is also a large Land so large that no hand but his that stretched it forth can be able to mete it out though there have been some who have too vainly busied themselves in calculating the Dimensions of it Some have undertaken to set out the extent of it thus As the Element of Water is ten times bigger then the Earth the Air ten times bigger then the Water the Fire ten times bigger then the Air So with the like proportion each Heaven bigger then another And thus do the Grashoppers of the earth skip beyond their Line Es 40.22 who because they can as they think bestride the Molehil of their own Element from whence they were extracted will presume also to take the length of the span of God's right hand But away with this Arrogancy far unbeseeming those that dwell in houses of Clay rather indeed should our thoughts be swallowed up with astonishment when we take into our consideration the largeness of the Place and our affections likewise should be enlarged towards it remembring what our Saviour calleth it John 14.2 His Fathers House wherein as he saith there are many mansions Therefore it must needs be very great We see how it is here in this life according to the greatness of persons so commonly are their houses enlarged Luke 12.18 Even the rich Tool in the Gospel when he perceived the world coming in fast upon him he presently concludes to pull down his Barns and to build up greater And when Nebuchadnezzar grew to be Great in the earth Oh how he prides himself in the sutableness of his Neast Dan. 4.30 Is not this great Babylon saith he that I have built for the honour of my Majesty Thus do filly men stand like Cocks crowing upon their Hillocks applauding themselves in the largeness of their Train and Elbow-room which they have obtained in the world answerable forsooth to the heighth and greatness of their Spirits when yet notwithstanding poor Creatures they are but walking pieces of earth and a small Ell possibly of that ground which they tread upon will one day be big enough to hold them Well then if this be the manner of men to have House and Land here agreeable to their little Greatness how great and large is that place where the great God himself dwelleth And where he will gather his Children together into their Mansions ordained for them Surely it is beyond all expression beyond all admiration We shall indeed come to see and know it in that day when we walk the Round with Jesus Christ who will certainly then shew unto us all the Glory and Beauty of his House which yesterday that is from the beginning he built and created and now again in his faithfulness is gone to prepare for us but till then we must not be too busie in our shallow apprehensions of it Thirdly As it is a good Land and a large so it is the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebuzites that
of the world viz. the Moral Law All which Laws were enacted by him as a King over his Church and People being according to his Office provident and careful for their security and happiness both temporal spiritual and eternal Answerable to that of the Prophet Es 33.22 which place Calvin applieth to Jesus Christ The Lord is our Judge Cal. Inst lib 2. cap. 11. Sect 5. Es 33 22. the Lord is our Lawgiver the Lord is our King he will save us If this sufficeth not let us consider that as S. Paul saith 1 Tim. 2. There is one Mediatour So S. James saith Jam. 4.12 There is one Lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy 1 Tim. 2.5 Jam 4 12 Now this one Lawgiver must undoubtedly be that one Mediatour because when man had by his disobedience violated the first Law given him by God himself he was immediately thereupon become an Exlex an accursed Out-law and so should have continued given up to confusion and every evil work had not the Mediatour in whom the Father was pleased all fulness should dwell then instantly appeared exercising his Regal Authority in reducing man into some order both for his quiet and peaceable living here in this world and to make way for him into everlasting Happiness hereafter Which work I say was alwaies the proper work of the Mediatour for it was not consistent with Divine Justice to give a Law any more to such a Rebel but rather to let him alone to perish for ever in his Apostacy which must certainly have followed if Christ had not interposed his Mediation the virtue whereof as in some sort it extended to all Mankinde yea to the whole Creation so it was chiefly fixed upon that People whom God had elected to himself for his peculiar Inheritance In order hereunto did this great King the Father having Anointed him to that end shew forth his absolute and Sovereign Authority in giving Law to his People as it is said in the Second Psalm when he was set up to be King immediately follows the Publication of his Law And what Law but that whereof the Lord had said unto him Thou are my Son this day have I begotten thee Ps 2.7 That is the Law which was the efflux of his Mediation unto which Office he was begotten of the Father that day in which he first entred upon it Which Scripture being thus Interpreted that which follows will be very apposite thereunto as being the gracious Dignation of the Father unto his Son in this Office Ask of me saith he and I shall give thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance Ps 2.8.9 and the uttermost parts of the Earth for thy Possession Thou shalt break them with a Rod of Iron thou shalt dash them in pieces like a Potters Vessel That is Do thou perform the part of a Mediatour and I do promise thee that the most Refractory in the world shall be made subject unto thee yea the Scepter of thy Government shall be accompanied with such a mighty and irresistible Authority that thou shalt subdue all adverse power that riseth up against thee I am bold I confess to render these my poor Conceptions concerning this Scripture as I have done of many other in this Treatise so different from Interpretations that have been formerly given but it is with modesty and submission and therefore I hope I do not offend those that are wise and godly being desirous to cast in my Mite into the Treasury of God if it may at least be any way useful and to improve my small Talent to my Masters advantage Once It is manifest that this Scripture is not limited to a particular sense but doth carry with it a various signification To say nothing of that Application of it which is made by some especially one of very eminent note in the Church to the Birth of Christ Bishop Andrews when he took upon him our Nature deriving the Warrant thereof from Act. 4.25 c. We finde the Apostle S. Paul himself Heb. 1.5 Heb. 1.5 alledging this place to prove the Deity of Christ as one whose nature was far above far more excellent then the Angels for to which of the Angels said he at any time Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee Signifying the Fathers eternal prepetually-constant and present Generation of his Son which sheweth him to be very God We finde also the same Apostle applying it to the Resurrection of Christ Act. 13.33 in these words He that is God hath raised up Jesus again as it is written in the Second Psalm Thou art my Son Act. 13 33 this day have I begotten thee So that in this sense the Prophet's word there Hodie to Day signifies the Day of Christ's Resurrection wherein he was begotten from the Dead for so he is denominated Col. 1.18 The first begotten from the Dead Col. 1.18 And in the other before the very same word Hodie implies that Eternity which properly hath neither beginning of Daies nor end of Time Since therefore the word of the Holy Ghost here is comprehensive of various Interpretations we may safely without relinquishing those which the Apostle hath given render this also which hath been here inserted unless we will entertain that Novel and Jeiune Opinion of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no more but one meaning of one Text viz. That Jesus Christ was begotten of the Father to be the Mediatour the very day that he first entred upon his Office that is at that instant time when the first Promise was made viz. The Seed of the Woman shall break the Serpents head Clearly then Jesus Christ was Yesterday the King of his Church as well as to Day because he was the Lawgiver from the beginning yea upon Mount Sinai that Law which was written in Tables of stone by the Finger of God was the Act and Deed of this King himself Quid enim est digitus Dei nisi Spiritus Dei saith S. Augustine What is the Finger of God but the Spirit of God as may appear by comparing Mat. 12.28 Luke 11.20 And whatsoever was done by the Spirit to the people of God was also done by Christ as Mediatour His Act it was and in his Custody or Register was it also kept being laid up in the Ark under the Propitiatory which was a most singular and illustrious Type of Jesus Christ and so altogether under his ordering and disposing as seemed good unto him Now let me not be mistaken herein I do not say that Christ as Mediatour gave any Law at all as it may have a consonancy with the Covenant of Works which indeed the Law hath unto all those who will not be brought into the Bond of the new Covenant But this I say The Gospel of the Law which the faithful people of God have alwaies found therein that is the Doctrine of Faith and Repentance was undoubtedly as I hop-hath been made clearly to appear given by Christ
but what saith the Answer of God unto him I will make all my Goodness pass before thee and I will proclaime the Name of the Lord before thee And what could a poor Creature in this World desire more Oh what admirable Honour is this that the Lord vouchsafeth unto his Beloved Favourite what an incomparable Priviledge is This Moses now partaker of above his Brethren But it is the Lord who may do what he pleaseth for so he saith I will be Gracious to whom I will be Gracious and I will shew Mercy on whom I will shew Mercy Nevertheless we may with Modesty enquire how and by what means this glorious Goodness came to be presented unto Moses and that we shall finde to be even by this good old Way which we have here been speaking of viz. the Mediation of Jesus Christ I go not about to wrest this excellent Scripture by forcing upon it a sense which may not agree with the minde of the Holy Ghost therein That be far from me what I have to say concerning it I shall leave to the Judgement of the Wise and Godly First I shall by the way take this for granted because it hath been already proved that Moses had to do with Jesus Christ as the rest of the people had while He and they were together in the Wilderness And it must be confessed that there was as much need of the help and interposition of a Mediatour in this matter that we are speaking of as in any thing els which I say was in great Mercy dispensed unto Moses as is manifest First by the Preparation that preceded this glorious Appearance Secondly by the Form and Method of the Proclamation of the Name of the Lord at the time of that appearance As for the Preparation which is mentioned in the three last Verses of this thirty third Chapter the particulars thereof are very remarkable viz. concerning the place that is said to be by the Lord Ex. 33.21 22 23. and the Lord 's putting Moses into the cleft of the Rock and covering it with his Hand which that we may the better understand and see how apposite they are to our present purpose it will be needful for us to take into Consideration that whole intercourse between the Lord and Moses First Moses prayeth unto the Lord V. 13. in these words Shew me now thy Way What is that Thy Way say some that thou meanest to take with this people in bringing them to the Land which thou didst promise to give unto their Fathers I will not deny but that this might be in the minde of Moses now when the Lord was pleased to admit him into his presence because he was ever zealous for the peoples good But there are some Circumstances which follow that do incline me to another sense at least to joyn another with this both which may be allowed together being not inconsistent each with other but tending both to one and the same end It seemeth unto me that Moses here prayeth that the Lord would reveal himself unto him out of the Cloud in some shape and form as he might be visible unto his bodily sight which he therefore calleth his Way because he had been wont to do so to the Patriarchs before him whom he likewise knew by Name And I do the rather conceive this to be the sense because of the ground and reason of his desire which is added by him in the words following Lord saith he Shew me thy way that I may know thee and that I may find grace in thy sight True it is the Lord promiseth him immediately after this that his Presence should go with him as being an Answer to his request in the behalf of the people the necessity whereof Moses also urgeth and insisteth upon V. 15 16. Yet doth the Lord give him a further Answer in the Words that follow V. 17. as to a thing somewhat differing from that which concerned the people I will saith he do this thing also that thou hast spoken for thou hast found grace in my sight and I know thee by Name Now since the Lord had before consented that his Presence should go along with him in the Conduct of the people and that Moses had given his Restipulation thereunto resting him fully satisfied with what the Lord had promised to what purpose is this other Consent now superadded and that with a note of difference from what had passed before if it be not this which I have here declared viz. that the Lord would according to his desire Visibly appear unto him out of the Cloud in a humane shape as he had been accustomed to do to others whom he knew by Name which sense being admitted how clear will the Circumstances following that are preparatory to the great discovery of God in the next Chapter be unto us which otherwise will prove very intricate and obscure Behold saith the Lord there is a place by me and thou shalt stand upon a Rock and it shall come to pass while my Glory passeth by that I will put the in a Cleft of the Rock Now what place upon Earth can be said to be neerer to the Lord then another seeing he filleth Heaven and Earth with his presence And what Rock or Cleft of a Rock could be able to secure Moses from the danger of being consumed by that excellent Glory which did appear seeing the Rocks are cloven to pieces Nah. 1.6 and thrown down before him How then could these things be It is in vain now to produce an Anthropopathy and so stretch it so far as to make it level with every Circumstance for doubtless there was a Reality in this matter and every particular of it was done and effected to Moses sense and to the full satisfaction of his expectation so far as might stand with the safety of his Life Granting therefore that Jesus Christ appeared unto Moses as a Man there might then be a place said to be according to the ordinary course of Nature neerer to him in that Mount where the Lord was wont to meet this his servant then another elsewhere he might also put Moses into the Rock and cover him with his Hand to preserve him from the imminent Danger and then take away his Hand that so Moses might see some glimpse of that Glory that passed by Yea more it is said Exod 34.5 that the Lord Descended in a Cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the Name of the Lord and yet in the sixth verse it is said The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed to stand still with Moses proclaiming and to pass by before him proclaiming too seemeth in reason not to hold well together the true meaning therefore undoubtedly is this Jesus Christ who is Jehovah the Mediatour came down upon the Mount in a Cloud and then after he was descended appears visibly unto Moses according to his former Promise and stood with him there to protect him from Danger while
as possibly he can and consequently that he might by degrees totally eclipse the glory of the Lord Jesus for he hates him with a perfect hatred and utterly frustrate in the end the great work of Redemption From this Forge it is I doubt not to say it that this old Antichristianisme now newly revived concerning the needlesness of the Knowledge and Faith of Christ under the Law hath had its forming and contrivance wherein some of late have exceeded above measure It would be too tedious here to intersert all that is written of this matter in a Book called Theologia Veterum and to give answer thereunto this onely would I know how the Lord Jesus could Quatenus Mediatour be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Yesterday If all that is said concerning Justification and Salvation not onely of the Fathers that were of old taken into Covenant with God but of the very Heathen not in and through Jesus Christ but onely by a general knowledge of God the maker of Heaven and Earth be true Doubtless there cannot be truth in both these assertions and if any shall assert Doctrines contrary to the express Word of Scripture whether it is better to hearken to the Holy Ghost or them judge you But I shall leave this matter to their second thoughts who have been too rash in spreading about these Anti-scriptural Paradoxes hoping that those who continue still too pragmatically Active therein will now find Cause to repent them betimes of their errour and retract it Onely I must here add if this Errour be to be repented of how much more that other which is made the ground of it and which doth indeed snatch the Crown off from the head of Christ not suffering him to have any thing to do at all in the salvation of his people from the beginning of the World to the end thereof viz. That God was pleased to make choice not of the Object but the Act of faith The T◠Credere as it is called to be imputed to his people for Justification And what I beseech you doth this signifie but that God was not so well pleased with his Son as with us poor sinful Creatures Or as if it stood with the Wisdom and Justice of God to make choice and accept of that which was imperfect for so is Faith in the strongest Believer considering it in the Act to make sinful man Rectus in Curia righteous in his Sight and to reject that which was most Perfect If this be not to dishonour both the Father and the Son I know not what is But as the Holy Martyr said of old in retam sancta Deliberatio non habet locum When such affronts as these are put upon the Almighty God we must not be mealy-mouthed how dares any man utter such a notorious untruth as this God was not pleased to make choice of the Object of Faith for our Justification If an Angel from Heaven should come and preach this Doctrine we should spit in his face and hold him accursed Can there be any thing in this world dearer to us then this that the Lord is our Righteousness Is not this the foundation of our Comfort here and of our hope that we may lift up our heads with confidence hereafter at the great day of Retribution against all the pleas of the Law and the clamours of the great Accuser of the Brethren what Doctrine is there that the Apostle Saint Paul doth more clearly and more frequently insist upon in all his Epistles then this that It is the Righteousness of Christ and Christ alone that is imputed to us for our Justification Rom. 5.19 1 Cor. 1.30 2 Cor. 5.21 Gal. 2.16 1 7 To give some instances Rom. 5.19 By the obedience of one that is Christ many shall be made Righteous 1. Cor. 1.30 Christ Jesus is of God made unto us Righteousness 2 Cor. 5.21 We are made the Righteousness of God in him Gal. 2.16 17. Knowing this a man is justified by the faith of Jesus Christ that is by Christ himself as is plain in the Verse next following Yea and the Apostle for himself particularly professeth saying I live not but Christ liveth in me Gal. 2.20 for I live by the faith of the Son of God See how he glorieth in the Object of his Faith as that which is the staff of his Life viz. of his justification in the sight of God without which he confesseth himself to be a dead man True it is Rom. 4.5 that he saith elsewhere viz. Rom. 4.5 Faith is counted for righteousness but that must be understood relatively as faith is fixed upon the object and as the object puts virtue into it otherwise we should make the Apostle to contradict himself and it is very observable that whensoever Saint Paul speaketh of faith in this point of justification he still renders it thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is through faith or by faith as implying somewhat that we receive by faith but never thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is for faith as if Righteousness were a recompense given unto us for the bare Act of believing Neither is it ever said in an active sense faith justifieth but by faith we are justified that is Passively by a forein Righteousness which by faith as the recipient onely is applied unto us When a beggar puts forth his hand to take an almes from a liberal man should he say mine own hand or the sense of my poverty that made me beg hath releived me in my want and have no regard to the Giver or to the Alms it self whereby his Life is sustained When our Saviour tells his Disciples Mat. 5.14 They were the Light of the World Math. 5.14 Joh. 1.9 did he then deny himself to be that light which lighteth every man that cometh into the World Joh. 1.9 A power is given unto Ministers of the Gospel in many places of Scripture such as properly belongeth unto God himself and his Son Jesus Christ As for example the works of Regeneration Conversion Remission of Sins everlasting Salvation what are all these but works far beyond the reach of man or Angel being such as hath been said belong unto God and Christ yet we know all these are by the Gospel ascribed unto Ministers 1 Cor. 4.15 Act. 26.18 Joh 20.23 1 Tim. 4.16 for they are said to beget men unto God as also to convert them opening their eyes turning them from Darkness to Light and from the power of Satan unto God to remit their Sins yea to save them but now because these things are spoken of Ministers in a way of subserviency unto Jesus Christ will any man be so void of reason therefore as to exclude Christ himself and say not Christ but Ministers do regenerate convert forgive and save those that do believe Yet thus do our adversaries argue in this case because it is said faith is counted for righteousness and we are justified by faith
him with tears to consider the dangerous consequences of such a proceeding and to desist from it whereunto his answer was this I acknowledge it is a very base business but they put it upon me and I cannot avoid it This being witnessed against him at his trial he had not so much confidence then as to deny it Whereby it seems that one while he accounted it a very base business another while after he had gotten preferment by it it was the most Noble and Glorious Act that ever he did in all his life His Indictment also charging him with Malice He replyed that he acted onely as a Counsellour for his fee so that it might be as he said called avaritia not malitia Covetousness not Malice And being told that he demanded judgement against the King He answered His meaning was judgement for his acquittal Yea further when he was in Ireland he did as he said put in a Petition to the Honourable Commissioners that he might have the benefit of his Majesties Declaration at Breda but when he saw his expectation therein to be frustrated by the sentence of death upon him the Case is altered his Death must be a Martyrdom and the Cause for which he suffers the most glorious Cause that ever was agitated for God and Christ since the Apostolical times Just like some sturdy Beggar who at first will seem to be very humble pouring out his prayers for such as will relieve him but if he have not an almes given him according to his asking he presently falls to cursing and banning Let now the best friends this man had judge whether he be to be commended for constancy and fortitude in his Cause or to be condemned for shameful shuffling and halting in it and consequently whether he be a fit pattern for their imitation Had he and the rest of his fellows in iniquity but given testimony of so much self-denial as to have refused that Wealth and Preferment which they gained by their busy actings in their Cause and have kept themselves in that inferiour rank wherein they were before they had brought so much mischief upon us they might possibly not have been so subject to censure as they were but when they coveted feilds and houses and took them by violence oppressed a man and his house even a man and his heritage when they spoiled for themselves as the Psalmist speaketh and like wretched Ahab did kill and also take possession yet in the mean time would be esteemed as the prime patrons of publick liberty and in point of religion Saints of the greatest magnitude in this Hemisphere of the Church Out upon it It was as hateful Hypocrisie as ever was seen under the Sun And I doubt not but those that now justifie it will have their eyes open one day so to account of it Now therefore O foolish people and unwise that are so miserably deluded with vain and empty shadows of holiness and constancy in a pretended cause of Religion be warned betimes and as you love your souls never let them enter into the secret of these men nor be baptised with the baptisme that they were baptised with Away I say with that spirit of Rebellion and Sedition of Division and Delusion that hath too long haunted this Nation Let it from henceforth never be entertained by us any more And if we have not quite lost that antient genuine integrity and goodness of Nature that hath been peculiar to the natives of this Kingdom we will all joyn hearts and hands together to send it packing Consider what hath been said and the Lord give us a right understanding in all things But I hope it is now made evident who they be among us that come neerest to the pattern here presented unto us in the text in being still the same Whether those that have framed the objection which hath caused this dispute or those against whom the objection is framed And now because this Text is in an especial manner intended for the instruction encouragement of the Hebrews to submit themselves to the Scepter of Christ's government I shall out of a friendly zeal for their Conversion make another short Application unto them O yee that were once a people and who shall again we believe be glorious among the Nations be at length informed aright concerning the Messiah whom I hope you will upon a perusal of what is here written if you suffer not prejudice to captivate your judgment account to be this Jesus onely whom your Fathers persecuted and we adore Be wise I say receive instruction concerning his Kingdom here upon earth It is not to be nor ever shall be conformed to the Kingdomes of this world in outward pomp and splendour in expectation whereof you have been hitherto wofully blinded For look what manner of power our Lord exercised over his people yesterday the same doth he to day because he is still 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same And whatsoever alteration hath happened therein as it must be confessed some there is and ought to have been upon those termes before mentioned which yet as we have said argueth no inconstancy at all in himself It is a change unto that which is more spiritual and so consequently is his Kingdom at a farther distance from the world then it was before Was it not prophecyed of him that he should be a man of sorrows broken with infirmities Es 53.3 c. And even where his comming is spoken of as a King That though he be just and bringeth Salvation with him yet he is lowly too and should testifie it by the poverty of his appearance not to be mounted in a Princely manner as the Kings of the earth are wont but upon no better steed then a ragged Colt the foal of an asse which surely speakes him to be one that would take no great state upon him And hath not this which is written been this day fulfilled by this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this onely Hee Jesus Christ as all else hath been which was yesterday prophecyed of the Messiah why then will you suffer your selves to be deceived by Satan with a fruitles waiting for of I know not what glorious appearance of Another yet to come True it is we also look for another coming of this our great Redeemer and we now call upon one another daily as you have been exhorted heretofore Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand But as it is observed by us from the Holy Prophets and Apostles The Scepter will be changed Bishop King upon Jonas and the government wholly altered from what it was before Then was the Kingdom of Grace now of Glory and Justice Then was the saving now the judging of Souls Then came it in the tongues of Men but hereafter in the trumpet of an Arch-Angel Then with tidings of great Joy to the whole World but that that is to come shall be with Terrour and Amazement to all the kindreds of
the earth Then with glory to God on high and peace upon earth but hereafter with Vae Vae Vae habitatoribus terrae Thrice wo to them that dwell upon the earth Then to gather the lost sheep of the house of Israel into the sheep-fold now to sever the Sheep from the Goats Then to embrace both Jew and Gentile now to divide between servant and Servant at the same Mill between man and wife in the same bed between Jacob and Esau in the same womb and to pronounce the one of them blessed and the other accursed Repent therefore we say unto you for this kingdome of God is at hand to deface all kingdomes to root up the nations to consume the earth with her works and the people with their sins This is the kingdome and no other that is now to be looked for and our Lord is gone to receive it for himself But whosoever they be that will not have him to reign over them whiles he swayeth the scepter of his Grace which is so despicable in the eye of the world Luk 19.12 when he returneth he will have such Rebels and Traytours dragg'd into his presence and see them executed before him Oh then let not the Serpent beguile you any longer with the expectation of a sools paradise Rather come I beseech without any further delay O ye children of Israel and children of Judah together and seek the Lord your God Jer. 5.4 5 who hath promised to be found of you Ask the way to Zion with your faces thitherward and we for our parts will give you the best directions we can Say as it is written of you you shall say Come let us joyn our selves to the Lord in an everlasting Covenant that shall never be forgotten Too long alas have you been unmindful of the Rock that begat you and forgotten your God that formed you And will you still continue to be a froward Generation children in whom is no faith Is the Lord Christ a stumbling-block unto you because of the reproach that is cast upon his kingdome by a sinful world A world that accounteth the things of the Spirit of God but foolishness which things it cannot know nor receive because they are spiritually discern'd And will you conform your selves to the guise of the world You that have heretofore with so much zeal declared your abhorrency of it Will you now joyn in a confederacy with it to your shame in that which is so contrary to the concurrent predictions of all your Prophets concerning the kingdome of the Messiah Some of whom I confess do speak of his glory and great atchievements but that must be understood in a spiritual sense as that he will bring the world under the power of his grace And those that do resist it he will by his Word and Spirit most righteously condemn Else how will you free those other Prophets from falshood and errour who speak as much of his poor base and contemptible estate under many miseries and afflictions yea of his death and passion As for that dream of two Messiasses to come the one Ben Joseph of the Tribe of Ephraim who is to suffer and undergo those indignities the other Ben David of the Tribe of Judah who must redeem deliver and restore Israel to their former inheritance and gather them together out of all the earth who must vanquish subdue and make tributary all Princes and Potentates of the world who never must dye but live and reign everlastingly in temporal Glory who shall raise again the dead Israelites unto life and amongst them Messiah Ben Joseph It is so sottish an absurdity that I believe you your selves are ashamed of it The Messiah whom you have expected is the Rock of Ages the Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending Would you have him then to vary the form of his Government which he hath alwayes exercised over his Church in a spiritual way to a worldly compliancy with the Princes of the earth What a shameful inconstancy would this be unsutable to his Honour and no whit conducible to the work the great work of Messiah in destroying the kingdome of Satan Yea what fruit would thereby redound unto you in carrying you safely through your pilgrimage here that you might sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the kingdome of God For us We profess this to be our earnest desire in our own behalf and if you be indeed the children of Abraham it would be your ambition to obtain it rather then any earthly glory Did the Lord ever in all the time of yesterday exercise a temporal Power over the Kings and Princes of the earth Where was his Throne erected What mettal was his Crown made of When Pharaoh kept his people in Egypt What armies of men did he muster up for their deliverance When Amalâ—k came out against them Moses his Deputy betakes himself to prayer whilst Joshua fights the Lords battels But what need the one pray and the other fight if the Lord himself who is the Lord of Hosts not onely of his subjects but of his enemies too was to have exercised such a Power And how ill did the Lord take it of your forefathers when they thus mutinied against him saying Nay but we will have a King over us 1 Sam. 8.7 that we also may be like unto other nations They have saith he rejected me that I should not reign over them meaning in his spiritual mediatory Power as I have before observed which though he still in great mercy continued as formerly during that regal Government which they then chose and which should in time have been mercifully establisht among them had they not been so precipitant in requiring it yet was his Spirit grieved at that their rebellion against him Oh know for certain It is a far greater rebellion against the Lord your God that you are this day guilty of In that you do so causelesly out of a vain affectation of conformity to other nations unwarranted by Moses and the Prophets reject the Anoynted of the most high God that he should not be your King according to that form of Government which is devolv'd upon him by the Father But Non obstante your obstinacy against him hitherto he hath reigned and reign he will still as he hath done Malgrè all the gates of hell He is the breath of our nosthrils and the life of our souls under his shadow we do live and rejoyce yea and we will rejoyce more and more And as for you because of your unkinde refusal of him hath not this our Lord according to his oath hitherto with a mighty hand Ezek. 20.33 and stretched-out arm and fury poured out ruled over you Whence otherwise hath it come to pass that so deep a stain hath been brought upon all your excellency and that your glory is thus eclipsed That you are scattered over the world and whereas you were the head you are now become the tail of
unto him in heaven and in Earth The exercise of which power he would first have to be manifested in discipling whole Nations of the Gentiles Matt. 28.18 19. receiving them into Covenant by the Sacrament of Baptisme as the Jews were by the Sacrament of Circumcision Where the word Nation in order to the Gentiles must without controversie be taken in the same sense as it was with a reference unto the Jews for as the Nation of the Jews was made up of all sorts and sexes old and young so in like manner are the Nations of the Gentiles And because his commission which he then gave unto his Apostles was not formed according to the erroneous fancy of these deluded people who in effect render it thus Go and Disciple all men But thus Go and Disciple all Nations baptising them in the name c. And Children being a part of the Nations we may conclude without any hesitancy that the intent and purpose of the Lord in this commission to his Apostles was that they should wheresoever they came baptise the Children as well as the Parents And seeing he came to break down the wall of partition that was between Jews and Gentiles which was actually done in the execution of this Commission It is not to be imagined that he would by it set up a partition-wall between Parents and their Children so as that they should be at as great a distance the one from the other in point of eternal Salvation as Heaven is from Hell A thing he never did in all the Ages before and undoubtedly whatsoever these Dreamers may blasphemously prate against him He hath not done it now because he is still the Same I will not dwell any longer upon the Conviction of these obstinate people least the more reason be shewed unto them out of the Scripture to lead them into the way of truth they be thereby according to their usual wont the more hardened in their errour The Lord open their eyes that they may see betimes what dishonour they bring unto Jesus Christ in the diminution of his power by their frantick Opinions What disturbance they create unto his Church and consequently what hazard they run notwithstanding their conceited assurance of their own everlasting Salvation We have now done with this second particular viz. Jesus Christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Same to day which he was yesterday that is The Same to his Church in the time of the gospel which he was in the time both before and under the Law CHAP. III. Sheweth how JESUS CHRIST shall continue to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Same for ever Vnto his Church WE should now according to our prescribed method come to speak of the third course or computation of time here mentioned in the Text and of that which is predicated of it viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jesus Christ the Same or the onely He for ever But to avoid Prolixity which hath already spun out the former parts into a greater length then was intended we shall not distinguish this into several propositions as hath been done with those before Neither indeed can we be able to speak of what shall come upon the Church in the continuation of this day of the Gospel to the end of the world Onely this we can say because the Holy Ghost witnesseth it That persecutions and Afflictions do abide it but withall that Jesus Christ will be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto it which he ever hath been Hereupon therefore shall we fix the short remainder of our discourse deriving some inferences from it for the further edification of those that take pleasure in beholding the immutability of the Lord Jesus Observe then In the midst of all the various changes and chances that may come upon the Church to the end of the world Jesus Christ will be unto it still The Same No variableness nor shadow of turning shall ever be found in him either in his Mediation with the Father or in the dispensation of his power among his people But he will be Semper idem Alwayes the Same Now herein we can but speak of the exercise of Christs Mediatory office as we have already done and therefore it will be needless to spend many words about it As he began so he will continue to be the Prophet Priest and King of his Church The same word of truth which he hath revealed he will still continue no addition unto it or diminution from it will he ever suffer his Gospel is an everlasting Gospel Rev. 14.6 1 Pet. 1.25 His word abideth for ever And if an Angel from Heaven should come and preach any other we must therefore much more will he ho'd him accursed Gal. 1.8 He is a Priest for ever according to the oath of God not to be retracted saith the Prophet Hath an unchangeable Priest-hood saith the Apostle Ps 110.4 Heb. 7.24 A Priest established in his Dignity as master and Lord by virtue of his Son-ship not like unto the servants the Priests of Aaron's order Who when they entred into the most Holy place were not there to sit but otherwise to execute their office according to the order prescribed unto them by Moses Heb. 10 11 They stood as became servants saith the Apostle ministring before the Lord. But Jesus Christ when he had offered one Sacrifice for sins for ever and according to the Law entred into the holy place to finish the Atonement Sat down on the right hand of God noting the perpetuity of his office according to the dignity of his person and that he ever liveth which was not possible for any other to do to make intercession Dan. 7.14 Mach. 4.7 His Throne in like manner is for ever and ever His Kingdom an everlasting Kingdom and his Dominion endureth throughout all Generations No Salvation then to be expected for ever Act 4.12 but onely by him No other Name under Heaven given among men from the beginning of the world to the end of it whereby we must be saved For before him as he saith of himself there was no God formed Es 43 10 or rather as it may be rendred nothing formed of God for any such purpose as to be a Saviour Ec. 2.12 Ps 145.11 12. neither shall there be after him What alas can the man do that cometh after the King What He may speak of the glory of his Kingdom and talk of his power to make known to the Sons of men his mighty acts and the glorious Majesty of his Kingdom But to imitate him in his power and his mighty Acts or to compare with him in the Majesty of his Kingdom would not onely be a contempt cast upon his Crown and Dignity but an utter impossibility and a meere vanity for men or angels to attempt it They poor Creatures being infinitely unfit and unworthy must let that alone for ever and they that will expect it of them will finde it to be folly
and our Vision of him For when we shall see him as he is we shall be like him to the full extent of our susceptibility of his Likeness and the immediate irradiation of his Light and Power shall overshadow us and transform us into the same Image both in soul and body This this I say is the complement of our future happiness the perfection of our eternal glory And this the Apostle clearly testifies concerning our vile bodies that even they shall be made like unto his glorious body Phil. 3 21. Phil. 3.21 From whence we may safely collect that as the Image of Christs body shall possess our bodies so shall the Image of his soul possess our souls and the Image of his spirit our spirits Whereupon it will follow we shall be wholly possessed with his Glory when we shall see him as he is in the Glory of the Father He shall then be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Same in himself respecting his Existence which as I have said will infinitely tend to the advancement of the Saints happiness and then also the Same to his Church respecting his Power though in the exercise and administration of it he be not the Same His Power I say both over us and in us Over us he is now as our Head to guide and govern us so he will be then for his Headship over his Church as his preheminence over the creatures he will not relinquish neither will the Father deprive him of it even when God shall be all in all And this I conceive to be undeniable though it may sound strangely unto some for the Humane nature of Christ being eternally united to the Divine it is not to be imagined that as Man he should be in an equality with the Saints but have a superiority over them and to be the Head of that Triumphant Church unto all Eternity without doing any office that belongs unto that Honour is inconsistent with the dignity and wisdome of the Sonne of God If any should now require an account of the particulars wherein Christ will hereafter do the office and exercise the authority of a head over the Church Triumphant in Heaven I must tell them They are to stay for an answer to their too curious question till in Heaven we come to see him as he is for then and not before shall we know even as we are known 1 Cor. 13.12 1 Cor. 13.12 Nevertheless in the generall this we know for the present Jesus Christ shall then be the head of his Church alone without any Power subordinate unto him as now For saith the Apostle All Rule and all Authority and Power both Celestial and Terrestrial shall then be taken away 1 Cor. 15.24 No humane Ordinance or Government of whatsoever Creation it be shall there be of any use no nor the Angels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though now as some conceive they have divers offices assign'd unto them according to the diversity of their names and titles for the discharge of their Ministery to which they are appointed of God 1 Pet 2.13 for those who shall be heirs of Salvation Hebr. 1.14 yet when all the heirs are settled in their Inheritance they shall then be devested of all their Rule Authority and Power Bruno their very Titles of distinction utterly cancelled and disannulled for to the Angels shall not be put in subjection the world to come and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day Furthermore As a Head he will preserve and uphold all the members of his mysticall Body in their glorious Being for as all things visible and invisible both in Heaven and in Earth were made by him and for him so by him must they consist Col. 1.16.17 Col. 1.16.17 Again As a Head he will keep them in a perfect unity together that they may be one according to the Divine Patterne before them As the Father is in him and he in the Father Joh. 17.21 Joh. 17.21 Lastly As a Head he will shew unto them those glorious Mysteries which for the present are beyond their reach and capacity so as they shall be plain and obvious unto them To which particular Saint Augustine whose judgment in the Interpretation of holy Scripture is worthy of all acceptation beareth his witness whom I find giving the sense of our Saviours words in his Prayer to his Father Joh. 17.26 in this manner Clarificavi illis nomen tuum c. I have Declared unto them thy name that is saith he In this World so far as they are able to receive it And I will Declare it that is saith he In the world to come more perfectly Yea give me leave to add one Meditation more touching this weighty matter which I confess I received long since from a Divine of eminent Note in his writing unto me In Glory saith he The Relation of Head and members between Christ and us shall not cease but shall be rather perfected by the enjoyment of that for which God did appoint it which is the shedding abroad of his love upon those that are made conformable to the Image of his Son Rom. 8.29 For the end and aime which God hath in the decree of Election is to make those whom he did fore-know and predestinate to be conformable to the Image of his Son that he might be the first-born among many Brethren Now when God shall have accomplished this aime and we shall be fully conformable to the Image of his Son then shall we be susceptible of the Love wherewith he loveth his Son as he is Man for the love wherewith he loveth him as God none can partake of but he alone and when by this conformity to his Image we shall be susceptible of this Love then the brother-hood between Christ and us shall not cease or be made void nor shall then his Prerogative of being the first-born among many Brethren be taken from him but it shall rather be most gloriously compleated when not onely the Fathers Love wherewith he loveth the first-born shall be extended to all those that are fully conformable unto his Image but also the Love of the first-born himself shall have its full and glorious Influence upon his younger Brethren By all which it is clear Jesus Christ will be over his Church Triumphant in Heaven as he is now over his Church Militant here on Earth Again As he will be then over us so likewise he will be in us In us he is now by Faith but Faith which gives him entertainment in our hearts and Hope which attends upon him there shall vanish with this Life and expire in their Service as being of no use in Heaven for Faith is of things not seen and therefore ceaseth when vision cometh Hope also if it be seen is not Hope onely Love remaineth to be the constant Bond of an eternal Union betwixt Christ and us and by love it is that he will take Possession of our hearts
in Heaven as he doth by faith here upon Earth 1 Cor. 13.8 Love saith the Apostle never faileth Not the Love of Christ to his Church nor the Churches Love unto Christ even in respect of their relation to each other begun here in this life shal ever suffer the least diminution First I say the love of Christ to his Church as it is his mystical Body shall never be out-dated For amongst us saith the Prophet Malachy Mal. 2.16 He hateth putting away therefore much less will he himself give his Church in Heaven when he hath presented it a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing c. a Bill of Divorce but will ever own her and delight in her as his beloved Spouse having loved her he loveth her unto the end yea and beyond the end to all Eternity And for the Churches love unto Christ in Heaven How can it chose but be more enlarged Partly because she will ever look upon Christ as one that had been when time was her faithful Mediator and with eternal acclamations will applaud him as her Saviour who hath brought her to life and immortality when she was near unto death and everlasting ruine But chiefly because the love of the Father wherewith he loved Christ shall Job 17.26 according to Christs own prayer be in her that is take full possession of her and consequently as it is added in the same place will Christ himself be in us likewise as the blessed result of that infinite love of the Father towards his Elect people For a further opening of this extraordinary point and because it hath not had that regard given unto it as it deserveth it being seldom thought upon I shall here crave leave to write the more freely of it And first let me once more insert the judgement of the aforesaid Divine in his writing unto me concerning this matter whose words I do offer to the consideration of the wise and godly The Saints saith he speaking of their estate in Glory after the resurrection are sealed up to God by his name formerly written in their forehead as it is Rev. 14.1 Rev. 14.1 Nor is the name of the Father onely said to be written upon them but the new name of Christ is also written upon them and the name of the new Jerusalem which cometh down from Heaven as it is Rev. 3.12 And their names once written upon them shall never be blotted out again therefore Christ shall be for ever in them by his name written upon them Rev. 3.12 For by the impression of their names upon them they are fitted to receive eternally the influence of the Fathers and the Sons love And I conceive that when the work of Christs Mediation shall be at an end and that Christ shall give up all those whom he hath brought to glory unto the Father that the Father may be all in all in them That then Christ also as to them shall receive a new name by which he shall be in and over them for ever For Christ as he is the head of the new creature to purchase life eternal to all that are to be brought unto the Father so now since he hath purchased that life he hath gotten a name above every name And when he shall have brought all the redeemed unto the possession of the life prepared for them then shall they become his fulness and by their conjunction to him he shall have a new state of glory as the fruit and effect of his Mediatorial administration shining upon him which I take to be his new name which then also shall be written upon his redeemed for ever And they shall be exalted to sit with him in his Throne as he was exalted and sat with his Father upon his Throne Rev. 3.21 Rev. 3.21 By all which saith the said writer I conceive it is evident that in the state of eternal glory Christ shall be in us as the fountain and head-spring of life eternal unto all mankinde over whom by and in the Fathers love and name which he hath declared unto them and put upon them to remain for ever and to be all in all with them He shall shine in his own everlasting love and new name Thus he Whether or no according to truth judge ye I might in the pursuance of this subject alledge sundry other places of Scriptures that have a tendency hereunto Luk. 1.33 viz. that of Luk. 1.33 Where the Angel Gabriel tells the blessed Virgin that that holy thing that should be born of her should reign over the house of Jacob for ever and of his Kingdome there should be no end Which was also foretold by Daniel the Prophet Dan. 7.14 Where speaking of the Messiah Dan. 7.14 he saith his Dominion is an everlasting Dominion which shall not pass away and his Kingdome that which shall not be destroyed Both which places St. Austin with much vehemency referreth to Christs Kingdome over his Saints in Heaven In securda parte quaestionum ex Nov. Test Tom. 4 Rom. 8.17 Et qui horum testimonium retractandum putat saith he perfidiâ plenus est that is whosoever he be that shall judge their witness viz. of the Angel and Prophet to be of no force is himself full of falshood I might also add what the Apostle saith Rom. 8.17 That the Saints shall be heirs of God and joynt heirs with Christ which clearly implieth that his relation to his Church as the first-born among many brethren and chief heir shall continue for ever And that of Eph. 5.26.27 Where it is said that Jesus Christ gave himself for his Church Eph 5.26.27 c. That he might present it to himself a glorious Church c. Yea and that also of Rev. 19.9 might very well be insisted upon to this purpose where mention is made of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb Rev. 19.9 Coeâ—a eo quod est ultima refectio Rev. 21.23 which signifieth that ultimate rejoycing which the Church shall have with her Lord and Husband in Heaven where the light not onely of God but also of the Lamb shall shine and gloriously encompass about the Bride the Lambs Wise which is the new Jerusalem that is the Church Triumphant for ever But I forbear to prosecute this Point any further let us now summe up the Premises together and when we have answered an Objection that is considerable we shall put a period to this whole matter I say therefore if the Personal Union of both Natures Divine and Humane in Jesus Christ shall never be dissolved which will heighten marvellously the Glory of the Saints in Heaven And the Mystical Union between Christ and his Church shall also uncessantly continue in Heaven to all eternity who is there that is not destitute even of the light of Reason but will infer that Jesus Christ will be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Same to his Church for ever in Glory which
of the first of the Acts sixth and seventh verses Act. 1.6.7 The words are these When they therefore were come together they asked of him saying Lord wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel And he said unto them It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own pâ—wer I know well the Apostles have been and are to this day charged here with an errour common among the Jews as it is reported of them namely That the time should come when the Messiah should reign as Lord and King upon the Earth according to the manner of the world and that all Nations should in that kinde be subject unto him and because the Jews were to have the preheminence among them therefore doth the Apostle speak here of his Dominion in this manâ—er calling it the kingdom of Israel But I must crave leave to enter my dissent unto this charge because it runs on too fast in the world without a warrant yea I cannot but account it too much rashness to impute a fault unto those eminent servants of Christ where the Holy Ghost in Scripture hath not given a clear demonstration thereof A fault indeed here is whereof they were too guilty in busying themselves about the knowledge of a time wherein they were not concerned and for which the Lord rebukes them But that they should now as for what they had done formerly in that kinde it is not here Material look for such a temporal Kingdome of the Messiah as the Jews generally did and do still expect this I confidently deny The grounds of which confidence will appear when I shall have proved that this discourse between Christ and his Apostles is a clear confirmation of the point in hand That we may understand aâ—ight the sense of this Scripture let us consider distinctly three things First the occasion of this Question Secondly the persons that put the Question Thirdly the Answer unto it First the occasion from whence the Question did arise is couched in this word therefore when they therefore were come together they asked of him c. By which word of connexion it is manifest that their Question was not suddainly started as of a thing impertinent to the purport of Christs Doctrine which he had been pressing upon them in those fourty dayes since his Resurrection but rather was produced by them as a result very consonant thereunto He had been speaking to them as it is said vers 3. of the things pertaining to the Kingdome of God that is of the future estate of his Church for as for the Doctrine of Salvation he had fully made that known unto them before as appears Joh. 15.15 Where he saith All things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you So that probable it is the Subject of his discourse now was as I have said concerning his Church giving instructions for the planting and governing of it and premonitions also what dangers and difficulties it was like to suffer and how it should prosper and prevaile over them all in the latter end And herein the Lord manifests his provident care and tender compassion which he had of his Church resembling thereby good old Jacob his Type in this very particular who when he was about to leave the world calls upon his sons to gather themselves together that he migh shew unto them what should befall them in the latter dayes Gâ—n 49 1. Whereas therefore the Lord Jesus Christ had been speaking to his Apostles of these things pertaining to the Kingdome of God and they thereupon enquire of him concerning the restoring the Kingdome to Israel is it not past all gain-saying that some at least of the things which he spake had reference to this restauration Especially when as it is well observed by Grotius In his Annota Luk. 21.24 non negat se id facturum sed quo id futurum esset tempore noluit ab ipsis inquiri he doth not deny that such a thing he would do but onely was not willing to be enquired of by them when it should be done Much was to be done as the sequel now proveth before this which they so hastily sought for could come to pass which they thought not of for it could never have entred into their hearts to conceive unless it had been revealed unto them wherein nevertheless they and their Successours for many Ages should be employed as servants and co-workers with Christ to the end that this much desired restauration might by the bringing in of others also to the faith of the Gospel be attended with the greater glory And hence it is that the Lord commands them that they should not depart from Jerusalem because from thence was the word of life to go out into the world till they were baptised with the Holy Ghost which was the promise of the Father whereby they were to be endued with power extraordinary as being the chief intruments under Christ for so great a work and to authorize others in an ordinary way to be their co-agents in it Secondly consider the persons that put the Question First it was the Apostles men not to be despised such as were legati à latere whom Christ had chosen above all others to be his witnesses of what he did and taught and to be his Embassadours to carry his name into all the world Who did eate and drinks with him after he arose from the dead Act. 10. Secondly the Apostles who though they were not yet baptised with the Holy Ghost according to the promise of the Father yet had received the Holy Ghost by Christs breathing on them whereby they had not onely power given them more then ordinary but knowledge also more then ever they had to discern what might be most conducible to the advancement of their Masters honour and so knew more of his minde in order thereunto then any others could or can possibly attain unto Thirdly the Apostles altogether not one or two of them separated from the rest desirous to winde themselves into their Masters favour above their fellows as it had unhappily fallen out in former time but the eleven with one consent joyned as one man to put this Question unto him for when they were come together it is said they asked of him saying Lord wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdome to Israel Which Kingdome if it were never any more to have a being in this World as a thing inconsistent with the manner of Christs Spiritual Kingdome their general agreement about it would doubtless have been adjudged no better then a conspiracy against the Dignity and Prerogative Royal of their Lord and Master and consequently had not gone without a severe check no more then their precipitant disquisition after the time did for which they are reproved Thirdly consider the answer that the Lord giveth It is not saith he for you to know the times or
season All which considered I appeal unto all men that are able to discern whether the Apostles words are not hereby clearly confirmed viz. that the gifts and calling of God are to the Jews 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the word is reported to be rendred unchangeable and not to be repented of For my part I take it to be undeniable and therefore do also infer that undoubtedly there is a time before the end cometh wherein they shall most certainly be restored If it should be yet objected that the Jews are not onely Gods enemies in a passive sense but in an active as not obeying his Gospel nor believing his Son whom he sent among them and thereupon will conclude that there is no hope of their conversion because he that casteth away the remedy makes his disease incurable Sol. The Apostle gives an answer hereto likewise v. 30.31 For as ye in times past have not believed God yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief even so have these also now not believed that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy Which words seem to be written by the Apostle in forme of a Prolepsis to preoccupate the aforesaid objection by a clear demonstration in themselves that should obtrude it being as much as to say Learn of your selves that the Jews Conversion is not altogether hopeless notwithstanding their present enmity against God in their disobedience to his Gospel For if you who were sometimes foolish and disobedient living in malice and envy even as bad as the Jews hating of God and hateful unto him have yet nevertheless obtained mercy why should you doubt but that the Jews though they be now a stubborn and refractory people may obtain mercy with God also especially seeing mercy hath happily come unto you upon the occasion of their contumacy but to them it shall come in a far more excellent way viz. Through your mercy that is by beholding of that mercy which God hath manifested unto you Gods aim and purpose we see is the exaltation of his mercy though men be merciless in judging and condemning one another for saith the Apostle v. 32. God hath concluded all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all Where the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all is commonly interpreted with a reference unto both Jews Gentiles that neither side may have whereof to boast before God but that both these and those may be saved by mercy which sense I willingly subscribe unto as not contrariant to the Apostles scope in this place But I demand may it not be understood as referring to the Jews onely so as that the word of universality all might be taken for all Israel as it is before meaning all the tribes of Israel whom God had shut up in unbelief that he might have mercy upon them all Certain it is the original hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where the article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth not stand as an idle cypher to signifie nothing but is put as a relative to distinguish this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all from some other and may be as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is said before of the article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therefore doth our English translation bring in the word them God hath concluded them all in unbelief as implying the Jews onely in this argument though from the thing it self the Gentiles are not exempted But I leave this criticisme to the examination of the judicious The conclusion notwithstanding from hence also will follow That the Conversion of the Jewish Nation shall for the magnifying of Gods mercy in due time most certainly come to pass Obj. Some yet do further object that the Jews are so embodied with other people and so mingled with other Nations that there is an utter impossibility that they should ever any more become a Nation distinct from the Gentiles But if there be any found that are distinct they shall not be formed into a Nation but those that are in Spain shall be called Spanish Jews and those that are in Italy Italian and those in Germany Germans c. Sol. I answer Let not impossibilities be objected to the Omnipotent God He that can out of stones raise up Children unto Abraham can easily make good his word which he hath spoken concerning the restauration of his Israel And albeit it were so that they are indeed embodied with other people of the world which yet is not true for the generality of them as we have before shewed yet shall that word spoken by the Prophet Amos be herein verified of them Lo I will command Amos 9.9 saith the Lord and I will sift the house of Israel among all Nations like as corn is sifted in a sieve yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth Amos 9.9 Obj. It is moreover objected that to maintain this Doctrine of the Jews restauration is to put the world into a careless security concerning the end for if this must be before the end cometh will not many people who are too much negligent already in preparing for the great day take occasion thereby to grow more remiss therein and so consequently may that day come upon them unawares as the Scripture often speaketh which if it should finde them in their sins will undoubtedly prove a black and dismal day unto them Sol. I answer First the uncertainty of the time of every mans particular dissolution may suffice to take away all such carnal presumption For as I said before alluding to that of the Psalmist Ps 19.2 Day unto day uttereth speech The day of death gives an infallible testimony to the day of judgement of every mans final estate whether it be good or bad whether it shall be to the resurrection of life or the resurrection of damnation And according to that information so shall the judgment be as death leaves us so judgment shall finde us Secondly We that are Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the manifold grace of God must not be afraid to make known the counsel of God in Scripture least ungodly people should make an ill use of it What ever the consequents be of our sidelity in the discharge of our Ministery we are to leave them to the wisdom and determination of the Almighty who will order all things for his own glory as seemeth good unto him Even in this very case touching the end of the world the Apostle Saint Paul though he had in his first Epistle to the Thessalonians written of the sudden and unexpected coming of the Lord yet when he perceived that some false teachers were like to take occasion by what he had written thereof to make those people believe that the day of Christ was then at hand thinking thereby as it is probable to carry on a pernicious design against the whole doctrine of the Gospel he thereupon tells them plainly in his second Epistle 2 Thes 2.2.3