Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	earth_n	holy_a	son_n	6,849	5	4.8446	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A79993	The sect every where spoken against or, the reproached doctrine of Ely. As it was held forth in several sermons in the year, MDCLI. By Christopher Cob, lay-man, minister of an united people in Ely. Collected and analized for a private use, by Hampden Reeve, Master of Arts, one of that Society, and a constant hearer. Now published by the assent of the whole Society (as a short character, at present, of them and their way, till an opportunity of a farther and fuller discovery) for satisfaction in general.	Cob, Christopher.; Reeve, Hampden.	1651 (1651)	Wing C4769; Thomason E1251_1; ESTC R209173	234,596	386

that Truth cannot tell where to find you Could it but find you though in a Goal or Stocks amongst Harlots or any where in the dirtiest hole that could be it would be a gladness But to be as runaways every where and yet no where sometime in this Harlots house sometimes in another this is a great woe and sorrow But let 's be merry saith the father for I have found my son again that was lost If you could but come forth and say to the Lord Here I am and declare the very particular place where you lie and stick 't were happy As a man in a mist when quite lost is glad to hallow and call to any to give notice he is lost and tells them where they shall find him But we slight it and say 'T is true I am in a lost condition but what will any telling another do me good We think there must be no crying out But the time will come that you will cry before delivered both to instruct others saying O come not here as the Lepers were to cry out to all O come not to me I am unclean I am unclean and then there will be a crying Can you help me can you tell me which way God delivered you Though the Father sent forth his word to seek up his son yet he came not till he was alive quick and sensible of his wants and this made him arise and go to his father c. The last thing yet remains wherein lies the conclusion of all and it is marvelous to consider how the work hangs together A third Reason why the Father is merry is the safe return of his Prodigal When the other son came out of the field and heard the musick and dancing he asked one of the servants what those things meant Why saith he Thy Brother is come and thy Father hath killed for him the fatted Calf because he hath received him safe and sound And if this should not be all would be an incompleat Salvation still But while I speak the word I sigh to speak it Shall we ever see the day to be thus adorned to have the best robe the shooes the ring and the fatted Calf to sit at the Kings Table and have the presence and favor of the Father to hear that concord between Heaven and Earth that musick and harmony to hear the gladness of the Father and all those holy Angels to see the Earth which is his footstool brought to the Will of the Heavenly to have Heaven and Earth brought together to a meet and close Therefore Let 's eat and be merry 1. Because my son was dead and is alive again 2. He was lost and is found And 3. He hath received Him safe and sound And this is wonderful that one so far gone that had been dead and lost that Lazarus lying four days stinking in his grave should be raised and made a sound man again that there should be no deadness nor confusion nor taint in the Principle of Life but all return sound this will be a wonder That there shall be no taint nor smell of any ill savor in all our words and ways left it will be wonderful indeed to have such a Resurrection There are three things considerable from this word To be Safe 1. That which is safe is well fenced about as Solomon saith The Name of the Lord is a strong Tower the Righteous runneth into it and is safe Prov. 18.10 But what 's the Name of the Lord He proclaims his Name thus The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering abundant in goodness and truth Keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sin and that will by no means let the guilty go free c. Exod. 34.6 7. When the Prodigal is compassed about with this Name he is safe to purpose with long-suffering gentleness c. and with remembrance of this also That he will by no means let the guilty go free then is he made to give glory to his Father This will be a strong tower where the Soul may be safe 2. To be safe is to be where no harm can come at him In time of trouble saith David he shall hide me in his pavilion in the secret of his Tabernacle shall he hide me Psal 27.5 A pavilion stands in the midst of the Army and what harm can touch one there To be in the City of Refuge there the Avenger of blood cannot come neer Now he is under the wings of his Father no Witchcraft nor Enchantment can touch him And when ever God shall make such a fence about you your estate will be good indeed when thus fenced about with the Name of the Lord. But 3. A man may be said to be safe when he cannot run away to harm himself neither When God makes this Covenant with Israel he saith And I will make an everlasting Covenant with them That I will not turn away from them to do them good but will put my Fear into their hearts that they SHALL NOT DEPART FROM ME Jer. 32.40 A man that is lock'd in the Stocks or in a Gaol we use to say such a man is safe because he cannot get away So when God has put his Fear into the heart it 's made as an hook or anchor to the Soul it cannot get away from him But happy are they whom God will bring back again with the Prodigal from the Land of their captivity into his presence There 's the place of rest and quiet there the Father rejoyces over his Prodigal because he has received him safe and sound To be Sound hath these things considerable in it 1. A thing that is sound may be considered thus to be without rottenness without fault firm and durable Now the Prodigal before his return has a heart with a taint in it and 't will be wonderful if ever we shall be brought out clean spotless unblameable c. It 's nothing to keep a man from stealing when he can come at no prize but to have the Babylonish garments and the wedges of gold lie before the Soul and now not to have an Achans heart to covet them here will be the tryal O let me not taste of their dainties saith David The time was he was envious at the prosperity of the wicked But now to see them prosper and enjoy their portions and yet not envy nor cover in nothing to be tainted here will be the wonder But 2. To be Sound is to be compleat and without deficiency as of a Horse that is fit for service we say He is a sound Horse sound wind and limb compleat c. The Prodigal came home compleated as Paul saith That you may be wholly compleat in him not having any spot or blemish or any such thing And My Beloved saith the Church is wholly delectable compleat in beauty O that my heart were so direct saith David that I were sound in thy Law O Lord how far off are we

I would have you consider three Things 1. What is the ground and foundation all the happiness and favour that we or any are ever like to enjoy It must only be from this good-will of God What he hath set and purposed for or against any that shall stand What ever his Soul desires that he doth saith Job therefore he adds When I consider him I am afraid of him Have any of you this favour to have a lot and portion in eternal life It is his will that hath done it his good-will his good pleasure nothing can hinder it If He will have mercy who shall hinder Again are any left to destruction to ruine and undo themselves for ever Alas it is this Will that hath left them out and destruction must then needs follow What if God will harden Pharaoh and make some vessels of wrath If he will not shew mercy who shall turn him 2. As this will is the foundation of all that comes to pass so secondly Consider how resolved it is and all must buckle to it even Things in Heaven and Earth the Son himself must be subject He comes down from Heaven leaves his Crown and Glory and must fulfil this Will by suffering All things must stoop to this great Lord so mighty is he such a Lord Paramount so great a Ruler Alas Things come not to pass according to mens thoughts and propoundings but according to this Will of God 3. Then Consider How this Will of God quite cuts off all our wils Nothing that comes into your thoughts shall be at all saith God And again Many are the devises of mans heart but the Counsel of the Lord that shall stand And He cries out against Jerusalem How long shall vain thoughts lodg within thee All our thoughts are vain if our thoughts are to save our selves or if to condemn and undo our selves they are all but vain The Counsel of the Lord that shall stand and the thing is done already before the foundations of the world were layd When we have tryed all and run out all our runs there is but one door to go to in all our needs the Will and Purpose of God and if we find no relief there alas the case is miserable man can never help himself So that the great matter lies there to know what that Will of God concerning us is how that stands what his thoughts are and to be truly informed here and layd submitted to this Will This is all we have to do for the thing is done already In the Salvation of them that are to be saved how contrary are all things to Reason how do they oppose and stand out more then any Had the mighty works saith Christ been done in Sodom and Gomorrah which were done in thee they would have repented them in sackcloth and ashes There would not have been so much opposition from them but yet if he will save he will save nothing shall hinder And so in those that perish though they seek the blessing with tears as Esau did though there be never so earnest a crying and weeping and pleading Lord open to us we have cast out Devils in thy Name and Thou hast taught in our streets yet all will not do if his will be set once and the doors shut then Depart from me I know you not c. If we were but truly informed and principled in this thing it would be a great setling to our minds We have many strange and vain wandring thoughts and troubles for want of a true principling and setting down here that all must come to pass according to this Will Thou wilt perhaps say But I have the Truth in me and that cries and desires and longs Well but the Son himself must be subject the Truth in thee the right desires of thy Soul must submit to his pleasure whether to be answered or denyed The Son himself says Not my Will but thy Will be done And it is said He learned obedience by the things he suffered And if the Son of God the Truth it self which comes out of his Bosom into the world into the man if that cannot alter nor change his minde but must submit its Will to the Will of its Father then sure the man who is but dust and ashes he can do nothing in it his prayers and cries cannot alter this Will Therefore what ever thy desires are set upon and how right and single soever they may be yet this is to be looked at in all but What is the Will of the Lord what is his pleasure Christ according to his tenderness He would have all men saved and come to the knowledg of the Truth He desired many things by his own Will but He must come in again and lay all those desires at his Fathers foot and say Yet not my Will but Thine Now are any of you at a strait and pinch to know what shall become of you Here the thing stands it depends onely upon this minde of God and nothing I know can or will ever satisfie you till that which the Disciples ask for be granted you Shew us the Father and that will suffice Christ had been long with them tendering exhorting instructing and bearing up their heads yet that was not enough to them they are at a want still till that word comes from Christ And I say not that I will pray for you for the Father Himself loveth you And this stays them indeed Now speakest thou plainly and no Parable This is more content and satisfaction then all He had ever spoke before to them this is the ground of all your Happiness if your Souls were but surely principled and setled in it But then III. What is this Will of the Father that He comes to do This is the Will of Him that sent me saith Christ that of all that the Father hath given me I should lose nothings There are two things in this Will 1. A people are given to Christ to be his by this Will of God 2. It is the Will of the Father that none of these should be lost but that Christ should raise them up in the last day That they should be recovered how desperate soever the case be with them And thus far I have gone to shew you who this He spoke of is the heart the minde of God sent forth tht Son of God And 2. What He was sent out for and that is to do the Will of the Father to submit to that And I told you how all stands in this Will of God That if Christ Himself would save a man yet He cannot do it without this Will of the Father Therefore He submits Not my Will but thine c. Christ would that all should be saved and come to the knowledg of the Truth but He must lay it down at his Fathers Will. And had I no more then my own desires and love towards you to carry me forth I should surely have flagged and left you before

bonds till we are freed and that is our way if indeed we would know it but how foolish and preposterous are we we would be walking before we are made alive But then 3. A man that is alive as He is capable of Instruction and teaching so he is fit for any employment to speak and walk and act what is set before him He may run the ways of Gods Commandments He may speak well of God The Living He shall praise thee saith Hezekiah The father to the children shall make known thy Truth Then indeed there will be a capableness of that other precious Promise to be partakers of Godliness to walk with God to be of his Councel But now is a dead man fit company for God Can God have fellowship with such as lie stinking in their graves Is there any communion to be had with dry bones Can you have any content and pleasure in a dead mans presence No you must first be partakers of Life before you can partake of Godliness to have his minde and nature and disposition in you God commanded Moses to speak to the people not to break into the Mount to gaze lest they were destroyed We are reaching to come neer and neer and plead for it to be taken in to know the minde and counsels of Truth Alass we are not fit Can we dwell with everlasting burning Can we come neer God and not be consumed Alass we know not what we have desired The old bottles would burst in pieces if this new wine should be put in There must be a new Life given before that new minde can grow Before we ●●n partake of godliness to have that God-like minde in all things to love Justice and Mercy and walk humbly with our God we must first be Living Men And it is but yet a promise to us though it be exceeding great and precious the Thing is yet to be done and therefore that which concerns us at present is to sit still in our graves in our bonds and darkness and sorrows till He calls us as They told the blind man Be of good cheer for He calleth Thee In the mean time it is in vain and dangerous for us to run and gaze These precious Promises are not made to all I would not have you all thrust in as sharers you may come and gaze for fashion-sake but I know there are among you in whom the love of God is not as Christ said to the Jews I know you have not the love of God abiding in you You come not out of a love to Truth or minde to be instructed but either as to hear a matter of news or to lie at catch to make a mischief Therefore beware what you do God will not be mocked by you It is dangerous tampering in Holy things with a deceitful heart we have payd dearly for it amongst us and He will surely divide between thoughts and intentions and separate betwixt the sheep and the goats He hath indeed promised all things belonging to Life Godliness Glory and Vertue but to whom Whereby are given TO VS saith the Apostle exceeding great and precious Promises TO VS and not to all And 1. That Promise of Life I told you what it was to Live to be freed of all snares and bonds and fears of Death which keep down the Soul a close Prisoner that it can stir neither hand nor foot But none will come in here but such as are close hunted and put out of all their holes and shiftings that they can no ways get Life at their own hand For so long as there is any fhift that we can either get up hopes or prayers or desires or resolutions of our own so long we are not dead men as God saith Thou hast abased thy self to Hell yet hast Thou not said There is no hope And till a man be dead there is no need of raising Him to Life and now to live is to be brought out of the grave and recovered by this free word of Promise You all live and walk and act but upon what terms Is it by this Promise of Life given to Abraham Have your lives been given you Have you been raised up by the same power that raised up Jesus Christ saith All that the Father hath given me shall come unto me and I will raise them up at the last day They shall be raised up and when at the last day not presently The best wine is not brought out first but at the last Day When Christ who is your Life shall appear then shall you also appear with him in glory and this is an exceeding precious Promise indeed to as many as God hath given it but not by any's thrusting themselves in that were never bidden The King will come and look over his guests and finde the man without the wedding garment 2. The second great and precious Promise is of Godliness to have a God-like minde to be Just Patient Merciful Single Holy as God is Holy c. to be knowing and in the light as he is in the light to be fashioned into the very minde of the Father This is godliness that hath great gain belonging to it having the promises of this life and that which is to come to submit thus to be God-like in all things to pray indeed Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven We would have our wills reign and be done in Heaven as they are in Earth We would have Gods minde come to ours and Heaven stoop to Earth There is something yet dear to us that we save and keep alive and would not every where and in all cases be like to God But this is the onely happiness and content to attain this life of godliness for a people to joyn together in one heart and Soul strengthening and building up one another in their most holy Faith provoking one another to good works seeking the good of one another as their own and ready to lay down their lives for their Brother How many people have we seen in our day to change and altar their Gods according to their own thoughts and imaginations as the complaint was against Israel According to thy Cities so are thy Gods O Israel such a changing tossing and variable thing is in the heart of man but where the minde of God is planted and spreads it self forth in the Soul and makes it partaker of Godliness that is a standing principle abiding for ever 3. A third great and precious promise is to be partakers of Glory There is a glory that follows and flows from godliness Moses face shone when he came down from God and the Church in her worst day yet says of her self I am black but comely and Christ yet owns and calls Her O thou fairest among women And I am confident however we are found in our selves weak and foolish and sinners yet we sit in the Consciences of our worst Enemies if they would speak their hearts freely That

got beyond you all that you have cared for has been that you might have meat for your lusts as Eve she did not sell her birth-right but the serpent beguiled her and she did eat If indeed there is to be a return in you I beseech you consider for it 's in vain to think of returning if no fathers house if thou wert never born to see the Kingdom there can never be an entering in 2. This encourages him in his Return when he considers with himself thus How many hired servants in my fathers house have bread enough and to spare Who have no portion they have been followed and dandled upon the knee but I being a son have been cheated of my portion How are you made to cry out sometimes Woe is me for the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously with me You have been enchanted your iniquities have hindred good things from you but when he considers these two things then he says I will arise and go to my father And this is beyond all that went before for while he was under the judgment under the plague pinched with want yet this makes him not arise but now he saith I will arise and go when he considers he is a son and that he is worse then any hired servant in his fathers house that hath no portion Oh that the Lord would be pleased to call you according to purpose that you might have no rest till you return When Jacob saw the charets that were sent from Joseph he could not beleeve for all the former reports but his heart fainted still yet now the spirit of old Jacob revived Genes 45 27 28. He resolves I will arise and go what ever it cost me In this arising of the Prodigal these things are considerable 1. He is made sensible of the want he is in that there 's neither bread nor clothing nothing that 's good where he is therefore he saith Well I will arise and go to my father for there the servants have bread enough c. much more I that am a son might Now he bethinks himself where he is how beset on every side And here consider what a stubbornness there is in man an evil malignity against God for we may say Why cannot he return without this stir Why because of that evil-disposedness in the heart that would not love the Lord Why What evil have I done saith God to you that you would none of me Have I been a wilderness or a land of darkness to Israel No all arises from an evil will that lieth in the bottom and is at enmity with God But when the Soul is brought to such a pinch that there 's no remedy for God will never leave hunting and hunting as a blood-hound till he findes out its iniquity then the Soul is made at last to say as David Whither shall I fly from thy presence If I take the wings of the morning and fly up to Heaven thou art there if I go down to Hell there will thy hand find me out c. At last when pinched out of all and no other shift I will arise saith he and go to my father 2ly I will arise c. As though he should say Well against all my fears and gainsayings c. I will arise what ever I shall meet with I will forget all my shame all my ill dealing c. nothing shall stand in my way to hinder now there 's a going as Benhadads servants with ropes about their necks and as Esther though it was death for any to go in before the King yet in such a case of necessity she is resolved to venture and goes thus If I perish I perish O all you Prodigals that have gone astray from your fathers house c. when will you venture into the hands of Justice as the Prodigal here and say I will arise We are like a man that stands betwixt hope and fear that would ●ain venture to leap over a ditch but dares not a great while but when his minde is strong enough then at last he is made to venture When you shall consider and say Why should I not hope Is he not my father If we sit here said the Lepers we perish and if we arise and go upon our Enemies we can but dye Need forces them at last So here saith the Prodigal I will arise see prove him if he will not open the windows of Heaven to you and receive you But 3ly Does he take off his filthy garments when he arises No but though he be naked and desolate yet I will arise saith he and go to my father and say Father I have sinned c. He does not lay his grievings of his Father aside how ill he has delt with him but that he carries on his back When ever your Souls shall arise think not to leave your iniquity behinde you and come clear but come as you are owning and confessing the thing as it is saying I once lived nigh thee in the house in the counsel but I thought it not good to keep there but have chosen rather to wander from thee I have sinned against Heaven thy people and before thee c. For now being once born again and turning out we defile not only our selves by our sin but one another either by our evil counsel or not standing or not helping others to stand yet thus he arises and goes to his father he bears his sin and sight of it he goes as he is And when his father saw him a great way off he ran and met him and fell upon his neck and kissed him And the son said Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy son Make me as one of thy hired servants Here appears the pride of our hearts we would not begin with a morsel of bread But when the father saw him a great way off saw his mind coming he ran and met him He waits to be gracious And If any man say I have sinned and perverted that which was right and it did not profit me then he will deliver his Soul from death c. Job 33.27 28. But now consider If you should lie owning and confessing all your life-time and should not stir in your ownings there would be no meeting of you there 's a certain savoring of a returning minde but while he was feeding swine and pined with hunger he might have said Sure my father will look for me he will not leave me No no there 's no looking after him so long as he is loving to feed swine No saith God Ephraim is joyned to Idols let him alone Therefore all you Prodigals think upon this Truth does not regard you while you love darkness rather then light but as soon as the Prodigal does but return then saith the father Come bring the best robe and put it on him c. But did he think to finde such entertainment as this He proposed

upon That was Faith by Faith he did it 2. I told you the effect it left behinde the Word from God took place He was warned 3. What things was Noah warned of Not things in present view which appeared to Sense and Reason but of things not seen as yet Though no danger at all could be seen or thought of at present yet he beleeves and is warned Then 4. I told you the great impression it made upon his spirit 't was not a light warning a matter of talk as the Religion of all the World is but it comes neer and toucheth upon his heart deeply He was moved with Fear Work out you Salvation with Fear and Trembling not talking and thinking and resolving but the thing comes to the heart with Fear and Trembling Then 5. I told you what a real work this produces in him he is not onely warned nor onely moved with Fear but goes on to a great work He prepared an Ark. I told you this Ark was a Type and Figure of Christ of a Saviour of a sure and safe condition which will carry through all storms what ever which sure condition I told you was made up of three several works answerable to the three Stories of the Ark. 1. The work of Death of being made conformable to the Death of Christ to dye to all things both lawful and unlawful To let all dye all mans reason and wisdom and hopes and confidence all created enjoyments how dear soever to part with all 2. The second story of this Ark or the second work of Salvation is the work of the Resurrection If by any means saith Paul I may attain to the Resurrection of the Dead To be raised again by the same power that raised up Christ Else if we part with all and give our bodies to be burned and be left there in Death That will be miserable If that word of the Curse threatned to Adam light on us In dying thou shalt dye if left in the grave This is to be utterly lost Many have been brought to that strait that they could not keep alive their own Souls had no ways to turn from the stroak Cain was brought to this Saul brought to this Judas brought to this I but here lay their misery they were left in Hell they dyed in dying and never came to the Resurrection 3. The Ark is not yet fully built the work of Salvation not yet compleat till it is made conformable to the Ascension of Christ into his glory to be accepted there of his Father and for ever setled in an Eternal Life never to dye more And in this last Story of Salvation I opened three things to you 1. That the Soul is here taken up as Paul says into the third Heaven It is quite translated and separated and divided from all seen things the whole World nothing toucheth it below 2. Here the Soul heareth words spoke to it which cannot b uttered Here the seven-sealed Book is opened and the eternal Decrees read This is my beloved Son c. 3. Here the Soul is marryed to Christ joyned into the union with the Divinity the Holy Ghost put in it as a well of living waters springing up to eternal Life And this is that long Life spoke of He asked Life of thee and thou gavest him a LONG LIFE for ever and ever This is that Eternal Life never to dye more Now such a condition may be of having Life but not the eternal Life they may dye again therefore 't is said of some Twice dead plucked up by the roots Therefore the Ark is not compleat the condition not fully sure and safe till the Soul be setled in the Eternal Life as Christ said to his Disciples And I give unto them Eternal Life Then I spake to you of the proportions how the Ark was to be made the length of it three hundred cubits the bredth fifty cubits and the height yet less but thirty cubits All which was not without a farther meaning 1. It was three hundred cubits long pointing out the long Life the eternal Life that all have which attain this safe condition a long walk from Eternity to Eternity 2. But yet the bredth is not so large that but fifty cubits not so large a compass here in this Life not such full room and liberty to walk round about without any straitness not so to run the ways of his Commandments to go on without let and controul But 3. The height less still that but thirty cubits to shew how the Soul is greatly kept down there it can have least room of all upwards The Ark is but low but little liberty Heaven-ward the Soul when it hath attained most yet it cries out O how short am I and this is to pinch it on still not to sit down here but to cry for the Kingdom to come when all bonds and stops shall be taken out of the way and a river of broad streams be given everyways liberty enough but now ever anon darkness and mists rise up an earthly cloud gets between the Soul and its Happiness that it can see but a little way off But then saith Paul shall I know as I am known Then I told you this Ark was to be pitched within and without to keep out all waters which pointed out the exceeding firmness and safety of a good condition That who ever builds such an Ark is so conformed to the Death of Christ and attained to his Resurrection and ascended and established in the same Inheritance made a coheir with Christ in his glory nothing can ever shake this condition no waters can get in 't is so surely pitched round no doubtings nor fears can take place either from within or without to shake it It is built upon the rock and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it Then the Ark was to be finished in a Cubit which had this meaning That the nearer and higher we come towards God our way will grow more strait and narrow They came out of Egypt full-handed with Dough on their shoulders and rings on their hands c. but before they enter into Canaan all that trash that came out of Egypt was spent their compass was narrower Therefore the Cryer cries Make streight paths for our God c. But yet I told you there was some compass left it was finished in a Cubits bredth not an Inch not without any bredth at all No All our Fathers have had some flaw or other here their Ark hath had somewhat in it like to this world They have had some sore and weak part some Canaanites left behind to afflict and vex their Souls And this was to put them to a strait to cry for the Kingdom to come where no spot nor wrinkle shalt be left nothing of sin or imperfection but all tears wiped away Then I told you this Ark contained the whole Creation in it All creatures were here to be preserved both clean and unclean

ravished my heart with one of thine eyes that is the thing to be beloved to find favour in his eyes Love will bear all things Love is as strong as death Love will save to the utmost and this Lot fal's on some Though Esther be an unlikely maiden one of another Country of mean degree yet she pleased the King and obtained kindnesse of him Chap. 2.9 and vers 17. and the King loved Esther above all the women and she obtained grace and favour in his sight and this is the thing that brings the Crown to her be she what she will Thou art fair my Love my undefiled Though she complains I am black yet he loveth her and Love sees no faults she is comely in his eye this is the portion of the chosen Generation 3. What a man chooseth to himself He taketh it out from other things he gathers it near to himself Thus is it with God He pulls the Brand out of the burning He takes the Poor out of the Dunghill leaves them not there and this is a sure token of choosing indeed where he leaves not a man or woman in their darkness in their bonds in their snares but pulls them out separates the Wheat from the chaff who hath translated us out of darkness into the Kingdome of his dear Son and in the Revelation it is said they were redeemed to God from amongst men and Christ saith because I have chosen you out of the world therefore the world hates you He takes his chosen ones out of their chains out of their filth out of a perishing condition cuts them off from the old stock That which he intends for a vessell of honour he takes it out of the Lump he leaves not his own in the same Lump with the rude world Now this is the great thing to be considered whether you are yet thus pulled out hath he made thee indeed to differ from the rude world art thou pulled out of the old Kingdome of Sathan where the whole world dwell in wickednesse though in severall ranks forms and degrees yet in the same Kingdome still not a new Creation made but this will make it appear he chooseth thee if thou canst say with David He plucked my feet out of the Snare he brought me up from the nethermost Hell and saith Jonah yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption O Lord my God that is his Salvation there it appears God is God We would vainly promise our selves as the whole world do to be saved by his love onely and so quietly passe our Lives in our own wills here and go to Heaven when we die but alas if ever saved we must be taken out of the condition we stick in Come out from amongst them my people that ye partake not of her Plagues Many have great words and great knowledge and light I but they are not yet translated out of the old Kingdom they remain still on the same stock but things that are chosen are taken out of the midst of other things and therefore Moses speaks to Israel Was ever such a thing known as that God should go to take to himself a people out of the midst of another people by great signes and wonders c. to take out of Snares and Bonds and Intanglements for God to say Come out of all and be you clean and be my people and I will be your God I shall inquire of you are you thus chosen are you pulled out of darkness and out of death and joyned to all the living Though in never so mean a place ne-never so despised an outcast though but a living dog yet if living if taken out of death and planted into a new Life that is the thing If there be that seed of Life it will ever be stirring and moving and bending like the Needle touched with the Loadstone set it where you will it can never rest untill it come into its right place till the Soul be brought to God Now there is a restless spirit in the Cains and lost ones but that is onely out of Torment the worm that never dyes and this restless spirit never moves towards God but runs from him but to this Centre the spirit of life ever tends to come from and out of all things unto God c. 4. Things that are chosen have no hand in their own choice All that befalls this Chosen Generation is of mercy and free goodness who made thee to differ nothing they could do could ever make a difference but the Case stands thus Two things lie together and a man passing by takes one and lets the other lie the things have no hand in it so is it in this choice of God all is done according to the pleasure of his own will see and read as you go that you may have nothing to glory and boast in nor challenge the least to thy self as if he saw some readiness or activity or towardliness in thee more then in others no he saw nothing but his own pleasure if there be any thing good in thee he put it there you have not chosen me saith Christ but I have chosen you This will make it appear free indeed when you shall be made to see there is no hand of yours in it but of his own good will begat he us No man ever begun first to seek after God but I was found of them that sought me not else no Soul would ever be saved Can a stone move upward no nothing can move to God but what came from God none can go to Heaven but the Son of man which came down from Heaven It is contrary to man who is born from beneath from the Earth to move upward his Centre is below unless he be pulled and drawn and born up and carried upon Eagles wings he falls to the Earth like a stone the natural man cannot please God he neither will nor can be subject to the Law of God and this is that God may have the glory alone in the work of Salvation as he says in Isa It shall be to me for a name and for a praise That he should save such unlikely ones and out of stones raise up children to Abraham this will seem wonderfull I did not think to have seen the Lord here saith Hagar when she had given up all for lost this will make the Soul say indeed as David doth God alone doth all 5. Things that are chosen are set apart for some speciall use a man hath some end in choosing them so was it with God in this choice he had a peculiar end and design to bring about and he chooseth some for that purpose but why are not all the world for this use True they might have been had he put in them the same spirit had he fitted the vessel to that purpose but he spends a great deal of cost and pains upon some he prepares the Vessell for that very purpose to put in new wine Old Bottles

I guilty For though it chiefly concern the Leaders and chief ones to consider and take it to heart yet something belongs to all to look after What is my place Where am I to stand Am I faithful in the work entrusted me To be faithful in little things is the way to be trusted in greater Surely surely 't is time to bethink our selves we have no good nor peace in our way though we live and are kept together by a mighty hand yet we live loose and scattered and consume in our spirits Certainly if we could but meet with the very root of all these ill humors and get that cleared then we might hope for cure if we were but once brought to leave the cumber about many things and minde the one thing necessary then we might prosper O Lord that he would sink it on your hearts as God saith here Consider your ways you that are called to for all are not materials for this House not any dirt and rubbish but you that the Prophecy hath taken in That you are living stones and that witness is born It is your Fathers good pleasure to give you a Kingdom will not you build him a House you that he hath bestowed all this cost on you are called upon to begin and set upon the work and lay the foundation of this House that your children may have a pattern to build after and a foundation to build upon We pretend to love our children and Oh how tender are we of them but alass we do what we can to undo them utterly if we come not up to this work to begin a House for the Lord and leave a way behinde us for them to walk in Hence come all our blastings we eat and are not satisfied put on clothes and are not warmed we have no good runs in all we enjoy the life and spirit is stoln from them because there is not a true and single and clear coming off from the world but we stick and linger and put off the time and look back to our old Lovers and hanker and still love our selves and come not forth resolvedly to build this House and thus in stead of leaving a good example a blessing to our children we are like to leave them a curse and a blast if the Lord prevent not The way is open at present there is no outward persecution that hinders but we might build this house in peace but we trifle and dringle and loyter and say It is not yet time Good Lord when shall we say It is time but we plead we have no heart Have we no heart and what is the reason of that We have a heart to our ease a heart to our own wills we have a heart to build sieled houses for our selves to dwell in and shall we dye thus with this old heart and never see a new heart given a heart wholly to follow the Lord But then lastly If any thing will invite and move us to stir VI. Consider THE GREAT PRIVILEDGES THAT ACCRUE TO THEM THAT SHALL SET THEIR HAND TO THIS WORK And they are these four The first is mentioned Vers 8. Go up to the mountain saith God and bring wood and build this house and I will take pleasure in it Now to have the Lord accept our sacrifice and take pleasure in our work what a high favor is it Were it but truly layd to heart That the God of the Heavens and Earth whose all creatures are to command and turn at his Will That I should do any thing may the Soul say to please him in which he will take delight who can express this favor c. 2. Another Priviledg is mentioned Vers 13. I am with you saith the Lord Will he be with them in it that they shall not go nor stir a step in this work but he will go along with them Is not this enough to carry them on If thy presence go not with me said Moses send me not hence I but if that presence go along then send do and command me whither thou wilt What would not a man do that loves God indeed what would not he suffer and part with and undergo to have God always with him to have his Friend his Counsellor Life and Protector to have him always stand by him in all that befals If God be for us saith the Apostle who can be against us what can be too hard Therefore we see our Fathers have rejoyced in prisons in fires in bonds because the Lord was with them and so long affliction is no affliction 3. A third great Mercy is promised v. 19. From this day will I bless you From that day that the foundation of the Lords house was layd Consider it now saith the Lord from this day and upward will I bless you In all thou takest in hand shall a sure blessing follow in thy going out and coming in when thou walkest abroad and when thou sittest at home when thou sleepest and when thou wakest from that very day you shall be helped to set a hand to the work indeed He will surely bless you We have forsaken all and followed thee saith Peter what shall we have Have you shall have enough you that have endured with me in my Temptations you shall sit on Thrones you shall be blest in all your way and what can you desire more 4. The fourth Mercy is mentioned in the last verse I will make thee as a signet upon my hand saith God to Zerubbabel And in that these three Priviledges lie couched up 1. A Signet hath a neer relation to the hand it is worn always and carryed upon the finger 2. A Signet carries the image and superscription either of a mans self or some friend or some weighty thing or other is carved in it 3. A Signet or Seal is to witness confirm and ratifie to make things sure and unalterable that are once sealed with it And now 1. To be thus neer to God as the signet upon his hand to lie so close so nigh him in his heart and bosom and love as his delight his jewel his ornament This is wonderful And then 2. To bear forth his own image and stamp to be like him to own our Father by our faces as 't is said of Moses His face shone when he came from talking with God in the Mount It will appear to all whose we are to whom we belong by the image and likeness we shall hear in us all our words and carriages savoring of God bearing forth his image his minde and heart And then 3. To be as a seal to witness and ratifie the deeds of God to confirm and make all sure This is a mighty honor that man should ever be employed in such a service Whose sins ye remit they are remitted in Heaven and whose sins ye binde in Earth they are bound in Heaven I will make thee as a God said the Lord to Moses to act and order and counsel and confirm