making a fair shew in the Flesh glorying in it how far we have been glorying in the Flesh our Gifts and Parts our Differences our Opinions waies of Worship wherein we Differ from our Brethren that yet are Planted upon the same Foundation of a crucified Jesus Carnally dividing from each other upon such Differences upon such things wherein we Differ from others as yet are but received and received from the same Fountain that gives to One as well as to the other what he hath even the Lord Jesus Christ Carnally envying of Striving against and Smiting each other Proudly exalting our selves above and Despising our Brethren Thrusting and Pushing the Lambs and Lean and Sick and Broken of the Flock to the scattering them abroad In these things walking like Men the Men of the World and not like the Children of the Heavenly Father whose Conversation as Pauls was is in Heaven above these things And how far we come short of the Spiritnal mind that was in the Apostle and those who were Perfect in that Day and the Lord expects should be in us at this day the reflection of but a Dim Eye will clearly Discern Now that this Evil is a peice of that Sin for which the Lord is Judging his People will appear plainly if we seriously consider what the Lord saith Mal. 4.5 6. Behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord and he shall turn the heart of the Fathers to the Children and the heart of the Children to their Fathers lest I come and smite the Earth with a Curse What great and dreadful Day of the Lord is this here spoken of Surely it s none other than that Day of God's coming to his People the Day of the Lords Executing his Judgements and pouring out his Vengeance upon the wicked World wherein the wicked shall be burnt up leaving them neither root nor branch wherein this People shall tread down the wicked and they shall be as Ashes under the solas of their Feet 1 and 3. verses Before this Day come before the Lord will bring his People from under the †Mal. 3.1 2. Isai 10.5.12 and 27.7 Cant. 6.4.13 Isai 4.5 6. Zach. 9.14.15 Refiners fire and Fullers Sope Take the Assyrians Rod the Rod of his Anger from off their back deliver them from under the present smitings and slayings of their Enemies make them terrible as an Army with Banners as the Company of two Armies and create a defence upon them from the Heat Storm and Rain all the rage and malice of their Enemies that they may goe on with Might and irresistable Power as the Lightning in the work of the Lord devouring and subduing treading down the wicked as Ashes under their Feet slaying their enemies with a greater slaughter than ever they were able to slay them with so that neither Root nor Branch shall be left them Before this day of God comes the Lord Will send Elijah the Prophet Either by his Messengers or by his Providences or by both co-working together beget such a frame and temper of Spirit in his People as shall lead them to Horeb to the Mount of the Lord where God himself at first revealed his Will to his Chosen led them into that State and Condition wherein the Lord met with them and was with them and manisested himself unto them at the first in the Day of their Espousals that Day of Love in the glory of which the Lord so much delights that he remembers it and forgets it not Isaiah also strongly hints this whilst he tells us The remnant shall return even the remnant of Jacob unto the mighty God Chapt. 10.21 as they shall no more crouch and bend the knee to their Smiters for their favour so they shall no more run Carnally after Apollo nor Paul not Caephas after this or that Opinion or Way or Party or Man but they shall return from these things from being led Captive by the Pessions and Lusts such courses hurry them into to the Lord the Mightâ—y God alone to Jesus Christ the true Foundaton they shall come into such a Spiritual Christ-like frame of Spirit as shall Turn the Heart of the Fathers to the Children and the Heart of the Children to their Fathers Who are these Fathers and who are these Children that being at a distance need a Reconciler Surely these Fathers and Children are not only of the True Seed of Jacob but of that part of the True Seed too who shall be used in the Work of the great Day of God spoken of before the Stress the absolnte Necessity the Lord laies upon their reconciling and uniting strongly implies so much The Apostle John tells us there are little Children Fathers and young men in Christ 1 John 2.12 13 14. I write unto you little Children because your sins are forgiven you for his Name-sake I write unto you Fathers because ye have known him that is from the beginning I have written unto you young men because ye are strong and the Word of God abideth in you and ye have overcome the wicked one These are the strong and the weak Christians Christians of several measures of several Degrees of a several Pitch in Grace and Knowledge these through weakness and imperfection having strayed from the Simplicity that is in Christ run into Variance and Strife and Envyings and Divisions biting and devouring one another Walk like the Men of the World and not as the Children of one Father the Father of Mercies the Heavenly Father Now this unchild-like temper must be taken away by a Reconciliation wrought between these Fathers and Children turning the Hearts of these several sorts of Christians towards each other that they may walk as becomes the Children of one Father of such a Father as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is Turn the Heart of the Fathers to the Children c. They shall be of one Heart serve the Lord with one consent there shall be such a Heart-love begotten in them towards each other as that all Variance all Division all Distance shall be swallowed up there shall be no Thrusting nor Pushing nor Trampling upon nor despising one another being by a reconciling spiritual frame of Spirit brought to see themselves the Children of one Father they shall sit at one Table eat in one Pasture drink of the same Water together because the Lord provided the same for all his Children then we shall not hear them quarrelling with and judging of one another but then this shall be the voice Come all ye that love the Lord Jesus Christ Come feed in his good Pastures Come drink of his deep Waters that he hath provided for you all ye Children of our Heavenly Father who bear his Image upon you And this must be saith the Lord Lest I come and smite the Earth with a Curse There is such an absolute Necessity that this Reconciliation be wrought in and among the
Pluckt up all our Defences even then when we could not believe it possible being lifted up and set on high because Isa 1 2 3. Ch. the Cedars of Lebanon and the Oaks of Bashan were the Stakes in our Hedg and the high Mountains and Hills and High Towers and fenced Walls were our Defences and Pleasant Pictures Gold and Silver were our Ornaments and we were strengthned by the Mighty Man and the Man of War the Judge and the Prophet and the Prudent and the Ancient and the Honourable man and the Counsellor and the cunning Artificer and the Eloquent Orator The same Mighty Arme of the Lord of Hosts that hath been and still is upon all these in the midst of us Plucking them up and Beating them down with the Rod of his Anger shall put forth its Almighty Power in Rooting and Planting them that come of Jacob I shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root and not only so But Israel shall Blossome and Bud. It 's not a Bare taking Root but such a Rooting as shall bring forth a Blooming Budding Flourishing State though this Winter night of Affliction may cause Israel in appearance to be as a Withered Dead Tree yet his Life shall appear in its Season he shall Blossome and Bud spring forth into a Flourishing State And fill the Face of the World with fruit Israels Tree shall so flourish so spread forth its Boughs as that the Beasts of the feild shall have shadow under them and the Fowls of the Heaven shall dwell in them the fruit of the Tree shall be much yea so much as it shall be meat for all all flesh shall be fed of it the whole World shall be filled with its fruit The * Isa 27.4 and Mal. 4.1 Bryars and the Thornes the worldly Professors in the midst of Jacob in his faln State shall be burned up and Israel the true Seed shal fill THEIR place with fruit the Proud and the Wicked of the world shall be burnt up as stubble and Israel shall fill THEIR place with fruit Though through our Sin and Stubborness in it we provoke the Lord to suffer us to be slain to be as Dead yet when our Sin is done away and our Iniquities purged we shall Arise though we be brought to dwell in the Dust yet we shall Awake and Sing our Dew shall be as the Dew of Herbs Isa 26.19 such Influences from Heaven shall descend down upon us as that we shall Spring again and Live and Flourish and fill the Face of the world with fruit What Fruit this is would require a large discourse to tell and it not being my work at this time to treat of therefore I leave it I shall only say this That it 's such Fruit such excellent Fruit of such a Divine Nature that it causes glorious effects that men shall fear the Name of the Lord from the West and his glory from the Rising of the Sun the Spirit of the Lord by his mighty working brings forth this fruit Isa 59.19 It 's to this People who are put into a capacity by the means appointed of the Father to bring forth such fruit that the Redeemer comes It 's this People who are brought into this Light upon whom the Glory of the Lord is thus Risen that must Arise and Shine upon whom the Lord shall Arise and upon whom his Glory shall be Seen Isa 59.20 and 60.1 2. These are the People to whom the Great gathering shall be mentioned Isa 60. Having Fixed the Prophesy and Opened it and shewed the Cause and End of the Present Affliction I would now draw a few Conclusions from the whole 1. That in the Last Daies at this Day the Lord will use the same means to Purge and Cleanse and Purifie his People that he makes use of to Destroy his and their Enemies Outward and Sore Afflictions Smiting and Slaying Death it self Jacob the true Seed Smites the Enemy to Destruction and the Lord permits the Same Enemy to Smite Jacob to Blood to Pnrge him from his Iniquity and take away his Sin 2. That this Sore Affliction the Lord makes use of as the means whereby he will Purge and Cleanse his People Ends not in Smiting only but Proceeds to Slaying to Blood slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him It seems Jacobs Disease is so highly Pluretick as the skilfullest Physitian in Heaven and Earth can find no way to cure Jacob of his Distemper but by letting out his Blood 3. The sharpness of the Affliction clearly shewes to Jacob the Hainousness of his Sin The tender Fathers of our flesh will not lay sharp and Sore Corrections upon their Children but for exceeding great Faultiness If we see a tender Father whipping a beloved Child till the Blood run down his back we say surely that Child hath committed some exceeding great fault Much more may we say Jacob hath Sinned a Great Sin when we see the God of Jacob who is the Father of Mercies whose thoughts of Mercy are as far above our thoughts as the Heavens are Higher than the Earth Isa 55.9 when we see him Smiting Jacob and Smiting him to Blood that he even faints under his Correcting hand yea so Sorely Afflicting Jacob that were it not measured out in measures of mercy did not the Lord in tenderness as it were stand upon his watch to put a stop to it when it comes to such a pitch it would deprive poor Jacob of Being This surely is an open Declaration of the Greatness of Jacob's Sin In a case like this we have the Lord mourning over him Hosea 11.8 How shall I give up Ephraim How shall I deliver thee Israel How shall I make thee as Admath How shall I set thee as Zeboim mine heart is turned within me my repentings are kindled together 4. The continuance of this Sore and sharp Dispensation will be either Lengthned or Shortned according as Jacob behaves himself under it as he is Obedient or Disobedient to the voice of the Rod Isa 1.19 20. If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the Land but if you refuse and rebel ye shall be devoured with the Sword Jacob's willingly doing the will of God may prevent this devouring Sword 's passing over him but if Jacob will not it must have its course saith the Lord of Hosts This Affliction must abide till it hath wrought its Effect Purged Jacob of his Iniquity and taken away his Sin So that the sooner Jacob departs from his Sin the sooner will the Rod of Gods displeasure be taken off his back Consider again that place we have already discanted upon Isa 59.1 2. Behold the Lords hand is not shortned that it cannot save but your Iniquities have separaed between you and your God and your Sins have hid his Face from you that he will not hear The Lord is now as Able so Ready to bestow Salvation it 's only our own Sin that hinders his hand
GOOD NEVVS OR Wine and Oyle Poured into the Wounds of SINNING and DISTRESSED JACOB In some Meditations on Isa 27.6 7 8 9 verses Directing to the Cause wherefore and the End for which The present Affliction is come upon him Hinting at the Means by which his Deliverance will be wrought And Comforting him against the Extremity of Affliction come and coming upon him By PAIN LuMLE A WELCH christian Jer. 30.7 Alas for that day is great so that none is like it it is even the time of Jacob's Trouble but he shall be saved out of it Lam. 2.1 3.18 21 22 31 32. How hath the Lord covered the Daughter of Sion with a Cloud in his Anger and cast down from Heaven unto the Earth the Beauty of Israel and remembred not his footstool in the day of his Anger I said My Strength and my Hope is perished from the Lord. It is of the Lord's Mercy 's that we are not consumed because his Compassions fail not â— for the Lord will not cast off for ever but though he cause grief yet will be have Compassion according to the multitude of his Mercies Isa 61.9 All that see them shall ACKNOWLEDGE THEM that they are the SEED which the Lord hath BLESSED London Printed in the Year 1661. TO Sinning and Distressed JACOB LEt not your Heart be troubled saith our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to his Disciples when they were going through the withdrawing of his blessed bodily Presence into a scattered persecuted desolate helpless Condition full of Sorrows Now with what doth he fortifie their Heart against Trouble With his Gracious Ends in going away from them which were first To Prepare a Place for them in his Father's House In my Father's House are many Mansions I go to prepare a Place for you there a better State and Condition than I can either fit you for or bring you into while I am present with you here on Earth and then I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also And secondly after I am glorified I will pray the Father and he shall in the mean time give you another Comforter even the Spirit of Truth who will be a greater Comfort unto you than either I have been or can be or you can be able to receive I have yet many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now till I have carried your Nature the humane Nature which I have assumed into the Same Glory I had with the Father before the World was Therefore it is Expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you and he shall guide you into all Truth He shall receive of mine and shall shew it unto you and all things that the Father hath are mine Joh. 17.5 and 16.7 13 14 15. verses Strongly inculcating not only his Gracious Ends for their Eternal Good but the Necessity of his going away to accomplish those Ends which would not nor could not be effected except he withdrew from them Therefore Let not your Heart be Troubled but Believe in Me that I will do these things for you As the Lord Jesus had these Glorious Ends at Thâ—â— Time in his leaving and withdrawing from his Disciples So he hath Glorious Ends in all his Dealings with his Chosen to the End of the World the Consideration of which should fortifie the Hearts of the distressed and peeled People of Jacob against all Heart-trouble What 's the Meaning of all that Chequer-work between Christ and his Spouse in the Canticles a Prophecy that reaches through many various Dispensations to the coming of our Lord to work a Total Deliverance for his Chosen as is asserted by Persons of no mean repute in the Church of Christ for Piety and Learning Sometimes hiding himself from her making her sick of Love and sometimes in the strength of his affection towards his Spouse He is Leaping and Skipping towards her Sometimes he Hides himself behind the Wall and again shews himself forth at the Window discovers himself through the Latess Sometimes he quite withdraws himself and is gone yet at last after she had undergone very hard usage from the hands of men the Smitings and Woundings of the Watchmen and the Insulting Robberies of the Keepers of the Wall he meets her and comforts her in his Garden among the beds of Spices What is the Reason of these various Becloudings of his so often hiding and withdrawing himself from his Beloved Surely it's to No other End as the whole current of the Prophecy and the Advantages the Spouse gaines after every casting down will tell us it is but to carry her from Glory to Glory from one Degree of Glory unto another until she be fitted for such a Total Deliverance and Salvation as shall never be clouded more and then the cry is Who is this that cometh up from the Wilderness out of all her Trouble and Wilderness-straits leaning upon her Beloved And now at this time O thou Afflicted tossed with Tempests the fury of men and not yet comforted though the Cloud that is over thee grow darker and darker and this terrible Storm shake all the Pillars of thy fleshly Building yet let it not touch thy Heart with anxious trouble only Believe thy God is the same to thee that ever he was if he withdraw himself it is that he may come again and shew thee greater Mercy 's such as shall never be taken from thee if he hide his face from thee it is that he may fit thee for and shew thee more of his Glory than ever he did before if thine Enemy weaken thee it is that by waiting upon the Lord forsaking thy Idols thou mayest renew thy strength if he Imprison thee in Holes and Corners it is that the Lord may be glorified in fitting thee for it hearing thy Groanings if he appoint thee to Death it is that the Lord may be glorious at the appointed time in loosing those that are appointed to death Nay surely the Lord hath this Gracious End in Afflicting thee at this time viz. To fit thee for a Compleat Salvation that Manifestation of the Sons of God that Glorious Liberty of the Children of God which the Creature Earnestly Expects and the whole Creation Groaneth and Travelleth after yea which the Saints of God who have received the first fruits of the Spirit Groan within themselves for waiting for the Adoption to wit the Redemption of our Bodies Rom. 8.19 21 22 23 v. that being fitted for that Work the Lord hath purposed to do by thee thou mayest go forth to it thrive and prosper in it both in Soul and Body and grow up to a compleat preparation to meet Our Lord when he shall come again without Sin unto Salvation All God's Ends towards thee in all his Dispensations are full of Glory to himself and Salvation to thee Therefore
P. 15. l. 20. r. brought forth P. 19. l. 6. r. this Same P. 20. l. last leave out that P. 21. l. 4. leave out But. P. 22. l. 12. r. his People and l. 32. r. lead them P. 27. l. 15. r. One another and l. 27. r. shall P. 28. l. 6. leave out own P. 32. l. 36 r. rebellious part P. 34. l. 11. r. It is that and l. 33. r. He shall P. 36. l. 25. r. give thee P. 37. l. 22. r. he may P. 42 l. 30. r. yeelded P. 45. l. 10. leave out will P. 47. l. 40. r. this is GOOD NEVVS OR VVINE and OYLE Poured into the Wounds of SINNING and DISTRESSED IACOB c. Isa 27.6 7 8 and 9. Verses He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root Israel shall blossom and bud and fill the face of the world with Fruit. Hath he smitten him as he smote those that smote him or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him In measure when it shooteth forth thou wilt debate with it he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the East wind By this therefore shall the Iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the Fruit to take away his sin THESE last dayes this last part of the time of this old World in the beginning of which our Lot is fallen to Be is that part of time in which all the Brophesies in Scripture except those that particularly relate to the World to come the new Heavens and the new Earth will have their compleat performance it 's the time in which they all meet as the lines of the Globe in the Center Hence it is that the Lord doth so complain of his Peoples Deafness and Blindness and checks them for it Isa 42.18 19 20. Hear ye DEAF and look ye BLIND that ye may see Who is BLIND but my Servant or DEAF as my Messenger that I sent Who is BLIND as he that is perfect and BLIND as the Lords Servant Seeing many things but thou observest not opening the Ears but he heareth not Notwithstanding the light of a multitude of Prophesies shining round about him Jacob is still Blind notwithstanding the Voice of strange Providences performing Prophesies sounds in his ears yet this Blind Servant of the Lord is still Deaf he opens his ears but he hears not notwithstanding he sees the wonderful Works of God performing the Words of God yet through Blindness he observes not the Lords meaning in them he observes not that which the Lord would have him to observe and doth so plainly hint out to him by his Word and Works he sees not the Way the Lord would have him to Walk in hears not the Voice that cryes This is the Way walk in it Therefore doth the Lord complain with an Admiration Who is BLIND but my Servant DEAF as my Messenger Who is BLIND as he that is perfect and BLIND as the Lords Servant To clear Jacob's Eyes to take away those thick scales of darkness that through various kinds of distempers and temptations are grown upon them that they may See and to open his deaf Ears that he may Hear the Lord will deal with Jacob according to the tenour of these words I have chosen to treat of It seems necessary before I come to the Words that I mind two things The Time to which and the Persons to whom this Prophesie in a special manner belongs In the 24 25 26 and 27. Chapters is a continued uninterrupted Discourse of what great things the Lord will do for and among his People That it hath a particular and peculiar Relation to the last times and that these dayes wherein we live are those last times I suppose will be readily granted and therefore I need not use words to prove it And that this Prophesie hath Relation to the Gentiles I suppose is as clear not onely the Prophet's speaking of the Isles of which the natural Seed of Jacob had no possession but the Work of God it self treated of makes it evident This Earth which the Lord saith he will Empty in the 24. Chapt. some would restrain to these Islands but I would rather say we are to understand by it the whole Antichristian Earth Babylons Earth the old Serpents Earth in which he is bruising the Heel of the Womans Seed Both because we find the Prophet speaking of the utmost parts of the Earth in the 16. ver of the 24. Chapter and because he positively saith in his 28. Chapt. which hath Relation to this time also I have heard from the Lord God of Hosts a Consumption even determined upon the whole Earth But many particulars in these Chapters tell me also That this Work of God here spoken of shall have its beginning in the Islands and from thence issue forth to the other parts of the Earth therefore saith the Prophet Israel shall blossom and bud and fill the face of the WORLD with Fruit. Further This People to whom this Prophesie doth belong are a People that having been afflicted formerly by their Enemies the Serpents brood have encountered Smitten those Enemies of theirs Hath he smitten him as he SMOTE those that smote him Again They are a People that at present are under the Smitings of their former smitten Enemies Hath he SMITTEN him as he smote those that smote him And that which strengthens me in interpreting these smitings to be the smitings of these two Seeds against each other is what the latter part of the Verse speaks Or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him I can see no reason why these smitings may not be the smiting of the two Seeds of each other as well as the slaying here mentioned is their slaying of each other Again They are a People that foreseeing the rising up of these their old Enemies to smite them afresh endeavour to prevent them and bring them under in the 26. Chap. 17 and 18. Verses Like as a Woman with child that draweth near the time of her delivery is in pain and cryeth out of her pangs so have we been in thy sight O Lord. We have been with child we have been in pain we have as it were brought forth wind we have not wrought any deliverance in the Earth neither have the Inhabitants of the world fallen Out of a deep apprehension of the evil approaching great anxiety of Spirit and pain of Heart puts them upon earnest endeavours to bring down the Enemy that is arising to hinder the old smitings again But all will not do nothing is brought forth but wind no deliverance is wrought in the Earth the Inhabitants of the world fall not but instead thereof they fall themselves to the death Thy DEAD men shall live c. So that now I suppose I may without presumption say This is our Scripture belongs to us as a teaching Lesson particularly appointed for us at this day to learn The Words contain the Work the
the glory of his high looks consuming his glory that they shall be as feeble and weak as when a Standard-bearer fainteth To prevent Objections that might arise I lay down this Position That this smiting and slaying of these two Seeds of each other hath relation not to several Generations Father and Son but shall have its performance to the full in the space of the time of one Generation And that upon these grounds 1. Because the Prophet throughout this large Discourse speaks of a particular day In that day and that day saith he and that in distinction from the VVorlds day This is a day wherein the Lord comes to empty the World to empty the Earth and this VVork of his upon Jacob is but in order to it 2. Because this Evil the Lord brings upon Jacob is altogether outward and temporal it relates not to Eternal matters it respects the Body not the Soul It 's like unto that Affliction the Lord laid upon the Children of Israel in the VVilderness that related to their Bodies deaâ—h in the VVilderness that deprived them of an earthly Canaan but it would be very uncharitable to say those that perished in the VVilderness because of that Judgement were excluded the Heavenly Canaan of which the Earthly was a Type 3. Because otherwise the Promise of restraining and measuring out the Affliction stopping it when it hath brought forth such an Effect would not nor could not yeeld such strong comfort and consolation to poor Jacob as it seems to me the Lord intends it should for what great comfort would it be for the Father to know that his Son his Child shall upon such and such conditions be delivered from the Evil that shall yet destroy him 4. If so be that this measuring out the Affliction here spoken of were only its ending in the destruction of the present Generation upon whom it falls then what difference is there between an Old Testament and a New Testament Measure The Measure of the Old Testament was the destruction of that Generation of rebellious Jacobs and saving their Children their little Ones whom their unbelief said would be destroyed together with themselves and if it be not otherwise now wherein doth Christ appear to be a better Mediator of a better Covenant established upon better Promises as is said Heb. 8.6 Lastly The Lord in this very Scripture it self doth clearly hint thus much by speaking in the Present tense Is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him that the SAME GENERATION of Jacobs Seed who are smitten and part of whom are slain by their Enemies shall get up again and slay them with a greater slaughter limiting it to a short space of time for performance of it 3. The CAUSE that brings this Sore Dreadful Dispensation upon the Seed of Jacob is their SIN This is strongly and closely implyed in the 9. Verse For if the taking away of Sin and Iniquity be the End of its coming then of necessity Sin is the Cause of its coming This is a People ROBBED and SPOILED they are all of them SNARED IN HOLES and they are hid in PRISON-HOUSES they are for a PREY and none delivereth for a SPOIL and none saith Restore VVho gave Jacob for a Spoyl and Israel to the Robbers did not the Lord He against whom we have SINNED FOR they would NOT VVALK IN HIS wAYES neither WERE THEY OBEDIENT uNTO HIS LAW Therefore he hath poured upon him the FuRY OF HIS ANGER and it hath set him on fire round about c. Isa 42.22 24 25. Ver. It 's Jacobs Sin that Causes the Lord to visit him in wayes of Affliction and Correction it 's his Sin that Causes the Lord to lay upon him his Fatherly Chastenings and Rebukes and that in Love that being cleansed from Sin he might be a partaker of his Holiness Consider Isa 59.1 2. Behold the Lords hand is not shortened that it cannot save neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear But YOUR INIQUITIES have separated between you and your God and YOuR SINS have hid his face from you that he will not hear How nearly this Scripture doth concern us will appear if we consider it doth not only speak of what God will do in the last dayes but to the Islands also V. 18. We see here the Lord in a posture ready to save and to hear his People His Hand is not shortened it 's ready prepared to save his Ear is not heavy it 's open to hear There 's no such thing as the Time being not come on the Lords part to hinder him from saving Jacob But it 's Jacob's Sin that Causes the Separation between him and his God It 's his Sin that Causes these Hidings of the face of his God from him It 's his Sin that retards his Salvation It 's not any thing in the Enemy it 's not to ripen his Sin that he may fill his Measure that so the Justice of God may fully seize upon him as some vainly conceit that is the reason why the Lord suffers this Affliction to befall his People No it 's Jacob's own Iniquities your Iniquities it's Jacob's own Sins your Sins that Causes God to separate himself and hide his face from him Was it think we for the Assyrians sake that the Lord might take an occasion against him to destroy him to be as a fire and a flame to him to burn him up Or for Sion's and Jerusalem's sake for the sake of that Work the Lord had to perform there that the Lord made him the Rod of his Anger against his People and by him sorely Afflicted him suffering him to be as Bryars and Thorns tearing and rending their flesh Surely it was for his Peoples sake Had not their Sins made a Work for the Lord to perform upon them by a Rod of Correction the Assyrian had never exalted himself over them No the Lord loves his People better than so if he Correct and Afflict them it 's for their own sake not for the sake of any other that through his Peoples Affliction he might destroy them The Lord loveth Jacob so that he will give men for him and People for his Life but we never find the Lord giving up his People for the sake of any other under Heaven either for their good or for their hurt Nothing can bring Affliction upon Jacob but his own Sin And Jacob's Sin brings Affliction and Sorrow upon him even then when the Lord is ready his hand is open prepared to bestow Salvation upon him when the Lords time is come to hear and save him yea even then when the Lord is waiting to be gratious Isa 30.18 Therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you That the Prophet here speaks of the same Time and to the same People he speaks of and to in his 27. Chap. will clearly appear if the whole Chapter be seriously considered This waiting of God to be gratious is while Jacob
Desolate left alone forfaken of all implyed in the 6. and 7. verses And add to this the Reproaches of the enemy ver 8. which is a very sore affliction It 's a Day wherein enemies not only Reproach but are Mad against the Afflicted through hatred and malice having lost the right use of their reason they become Mad against him and these are Sworn against him to the taking away his life v. 8. comp with v. 20. It 's a Day of the Groaning of Prisoners a Day wherein Prisons are filled with the Afflicted vers 20. It 's a Day wherein some of the Afflicted are Appointed to Death or become the Children of Death as the margent of some Bibles hath it ver 20. Yea It 's the Day wherein Sion shall become so Desolate that her Buildings her Assemblies and Societies shall be broken to Peices her Stones scattered here and there and her Cement Crumbled into dust this is strongly implyed vers 14. of all her Buildings there 's only the Stones and the Dust left Agreeable to this is that of Isaiah Isa 1 2 and 4. verses speaking to the City where David dwelt that City which the Lord did Chuse out of all the Tribes of Israel to put his Name there 1 Kings 14.21 A Professing People that Kill Sacrisices are full of Right Outward Performances in matters of worship which yet the Lord hared they were a trouble to him and he was weary to bear them because of their Pollution in Morrals as the complaint is throughout the first Chapter yet saith God I will Distress Ariel and there shall be Heaviness and Sorrow and it shall be unto me as Ariel And thou shalt be brought down and shall speak out of the Ground and thy speech shall be low out of the Dust and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar Spirit out of the Ground and thy speech shall whisper out of the Dust This City is brought into this State of Heavines and Sorrow of Lowness and Distress by reason of her Hypocrisie complainned of vers 13. but immediately before the Day of her visitation wherein the Lord will turn his hand upon her Enemies that fight against and Distress her and Destroying them Deliver her by his Thunder and Earth quakes and great Noise with Storm and Tempest and the flame of Devouring Fire Thus much surely the 6 7 and 8. verses tell us How far this may or doth concerne us I leave it to serious Consideration Lastly It 's the Day wherein the Afflicted are in this sad Desolate condition quite Destitute of any help from any under Heaven implyed in the 17. verse Yet This the Time the set Time for God to Arise and to have Mercy upon Sion For by this Time Sion is so Purged and Purified that she can offer up an Offering of Righteousness which is Pleasant unto the Lord as Malachy speaks she is enabled to Pray such a Prayer as the Lord will Reward and not despise and hearing her cry he Arises to have Mercy upon Sion he appears in his Glory and Saves her out of all her Troubles so that the Heathens fear the Name of the Lord all the Kings of the Earth his Glory 15 16 17. verses So that as the Sin of Jacob may sometimes be so Circumstantiated that it engages the Lord for his Gloriessake nor to pass it by but to Deal with him in wrath and Displeasure and as the stubborness of Jacob in his Sin may sometimes make his Affliction Long and Great So when the Affliction hath wrought its desired Effect humbled him and brought him to Gods soot though it bring him never so low and make him never so destitute even to the Dust that to the Eye of Reason he can never rise again yet then is the Time for God to arise and to have Mercy upon his Chosen The Lord having broken the Impure Buildings of Sion and separated the precious stones from the Vile and Winnowed its Dust by the rough wind of his sury from the defiling attoms among it now is the Set Time come for God to arise to have Mercy upon Sion and hear their cry and the groanings of the Prisoners and to lose those that are appointed to death now will the Lord appear in his Glory to Build up Sion for this is that State of Sion which the servants of the Lord will take Pleasure in and Favour Such is Gods Love to Jacob that when he seems to Cast him off in wrath and displeafure hiding his face from him yet then he Chuses him afresh as it were I have chosen thee in the Furnace of Affliction when the fire of affliction hath Refined Jacob burnt up his Drosse and his Tin then in this refining furnace the Lord Chuses him to be his For mine own sake even for my own sake will I do it for how should my Name be polluted and I will not give my Glory unto another As the Lord will not Save nor Deliver Jacob but at such a Time and in such a Way wherein he may save his Glory too so his Glory is as much and more engaged to Save and Exalt Jacob as ever it was to Afflict him and cast him down I will not give my Glory to another nor suffer my name which is called upon by thee to be polluted therefore will I not suffer thee to be cut off but chuse thee in this thy Low Estate Deliver thee and save thee Isa 48.9 10 11. compared with the 14. verse Wherefore seeing we have such evidences of the Love of God in all his dispensations towards his Jacob let uâ— not be discouraged let nor our Spirits droop and faint under our Burdens but let us lay aside every Weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the Race of suffering that is set before us looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the Joy that was set before him endured the Crosse despising the shame and is set down at the ight hand of the Throne of God For the Day of Deliverance is at hand nothing hinders it but our own Sin The Lord is fully ready prepared to save Jacob to deliver the Captives of the Mâ—ghty and the Prey of the Terrible to contend with him that now contends with thee and Save thy Children Isa 49.25 he is only waiting till Jacob is ready prepared to be Delivered the Time wherein Deliverance may be a thâ—rrow Salvation indeed that he may nor be put to an after-work of Refining Jâ—câ—b and sweeping his house with the Beesoms of his wrath but that he may bestow Peace and Glory upon him and set a Defence upon it that may never be raken away again For a sinall moment have I forsaken thee but with Great Mâ—ciâ—s will I gather thee In a little Wrath I hid my Face from thee for a Moment but with EVERLASTâ—NG KINDNESS will I have mercy on thee saith the Lord thy Redeemer For this is as the waters of Noah unto me for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more goe over the Earth So have I sworn that I would not be wrath with thee nor rebuk thee For the Mountains shall epâ—rt and the Hills be removed but my KINDNES SHALL NOT DEPART from thee neither shall the COVENANT OF MY PEACE BE REMOVED saith the Lord that hath Mercy on thee Isa 54.7 8 9 10. verses THE END