They that should have used violence to press into God's Kingdom but now Christ will use force to thrust them out of his Kingdom They wish now to see the excellency and glory of the Kingdom of God that they would even with violence force into it but they shall be violently thrust out of it they shall never tast of Christ's Supper They would not come into Christ's Righteousness and this was their great sin and they shall not come into Christ's Righteousness and this will be their grievous punishment They shall not enter into God's rest Heb. 3.18 They shall not partake of Christ's joy or glory They would not open their Hearts to Christ and Christ will not open his Heaven to them They would not know Christ's voice when he knocked and called saying Open to me And Christ will not hear their voice when they cry Lord open to us They would not give entertainment and rest to Christ in their Souls and Christ will not give them entertainment and rest in his Kingdom 3. This will cause wailing when Sinners see what they must suffer and endure they that in their whole time did drink iniquity like water must during God's eternity drink the wrath of the Almighty Job 21.20 They must be drunk with the Cup of God's fury feel the edge of his glittering Sword and the weight of his punishing hand His face will be unveiled to frown and scorch and his arm be made bare to smite and wound Christ will come to express his most fierce resentments of Sinners slighting the Grace offered to 'em and despising the mercy pressed on them Children of Disobedience shall be broken with Christ's Iron rod and Vessels of wrath shall be filled up to the brim with the fury of God This Mourning will be dreadful because there is no comfort to be administred no peace to be spoken to these Mourners There will be no banishing of their fears removing of their burdens no sweetning of their cup or healing of their wounds for ever God will set his face against them and will never hide or turn away his angry countenance from them Those that have been secure stupid hard-hearted even till now shall then begin to mourn but the first fruits of their sorrow will be the first fruits of their woe and prove the earnest and presages of their eternal misery They begin to sorrow on the utmost confines and bounds of Time and must continue sorrowing to an endless and unbounded Eternity Godly sorrow for sin may somewhat avail to remove the Transgressor's burden but Worldly sorrow under the feeling of present anguish or the fear of further future approaching misery will not advantage Sinners to roul away their guilt to prevent or diminish their punishment their mourning is a part of the punishment threatned Prov. 5.11 12. and thou mourn at last and say How have I hated instruction and my heart despised reproof Therefore this punishment shall never cease shall never be taken off Saints have but days of mourning and these shall have an end Is 60.20 but Sinners shall have an eternal mourning which shall have no end The day of Christ's Revelation will be a time of joy to his Loyal Spouse to his Living Members to his Faithful and Sincere Servants when he appeareth they shall rejoyce with exceeding great joy 1 Pet. 4.13 But this appearing will cause eternal sorrow to Rebels and Enemies when their sins shall be remembred and revenged 3. When will the Lord Jesus be Revealed Tho' the end of the Old World and the punctual time of its destruction was foretold that after a hundred and twenty Years the Flood should come yet the exact day or time of the end of the second World none knows no not the Angels of God Matt. 24.36 yet the Scripture gives us some general hints and intimations when Christ will come 1. When he hath received a Kingdom Luke 19.12 He was to travel into a far Country to receive a Kingdom and to return Jesus Christ hath not yet fully received his Kingdom all the Elect are not yet born they are not all gathered and converted they have not all yet visited the Son Psal 2.12 performed their homage and yielded obedience to him It is a Work for a long time for Christ to ride forth prosperously conquer a Kingdom and subject Rebels to himself and then to reign prosperously over them Jer. 23.5 more to refine sanctify and fit them for himself All Christs Servants must have time to occupy and trade with his Pounds and Talents before he will come call them to an account and reckon with them Matt. 25.16 19. Christ must wound the hearts of his Enemies and cause them as foiled to fall under him and as worshippers to fall before him Christ must also shew his glorious power for some time in ruling in the midst of his enemies Ps 110.2 2. That notwithstanding all their rage they cannot hinder Christ's Kingdom to rise or cause it to fall but Christ will go on more Levening the World with his Doctrine more subduing the Nations by his Word till this stone did fill the whole Earth and the Name of this Shepherd was great to the ends of the Earth 2. Jesus Christ will come when all his Members are compleat and he hath the fulness of his Body Ephes 1.23 When his Spouse hath made her self ready Rev. 19.7 The marriage of the Lamb is come and his Wife hath made her self ready When she is cloathed in fine Linnen white and clean and adorned with Clothing of wrought Gold and Raiment of Needle-work 3. Jesus Christ will come when he hath prepared a place to lead and bring his people to John 14.3 If I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to my self that where I am you may be But when may Christ be said to have prepared a place for all his Members Surely when Christ hath sprinkled the Throne and the Heavenly Sanctuary with his Blood when he hath pleaded his Sufferings and Death for each of them that they may be let into the glorious Presence and Kingdom of God then he may be said to have prepared a place for them 4. When Christ's Corn and Harvest is fully ripe then he will come to reap Mark 4.28 29. When the earth bringeth forth the blade then the ear then the full Corn in the ear but when the fruit is brought forth immediately he putteth in the sickle because the harvest is come Christ will not delay or lose time when the Harvest is ripe when the Members are grown up to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ Eph. 4.13 2. Jesus Christ will be Revealed from Heaven 1. To justifie the History and Doctrine of the Gospel that he was received up into Heaven and sat on the right hand of God Mark 16.19 That he entred into Heaven Angels Principalities and Powers being made subject to him 1 Pet. 3.22 that
comes not only to be glorified himself but to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe 2 Thes 1.10 therefore it is stiled The glorius Appearing of the great God even of our Saviour Jesus Christ Titus 2.13 Christ at his coming will be clothed with such glory that will put it out of doubt that he is the Son of God that he is the Son of Man the true Messiah that was promised and exhibited to the World It is said Then shall appear the Sign of the Son of Man Matt. 24.30 Ferus takes this Sign of the Son of Man to be the Sign of the Cross but the Note of Calvin on the Text is more solid and judicious He takes that eminent and transcendent Glory that Christ will appear in to be the Sign of the Son of Man Those that were not convinced and perswaded by all the Signs and Miracles that Christ wrought that he was the Messiah shall by his glorious Appearing by his Illustrious Majesty as a demonstrative and convincing Sign be assured fully that he is the Son of Man the Promised Messiah None shall doubt none shall be left at uncertainties about it no Unbeliever shall remain Tho' the Scribes and Pharisees would not regard Christ's Miracles or be induced by them to believe yet he tells them of an invincible convincing evidence that should one day be afforded to them but too late He insists on and minds them of this very sign of the Son of Man Matt. 6.64 Hereafter you shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of Heaven You that now condemn me for saying that I am the Messiah and the Son of God shall one day see me as a Judge coming to Arraign Sentence and Condemn you 4. The coming of Christ will be very open and evident to the whole World When he first appeared he shewed himself to few but to the Jewish Nation After his Resurrection we read of none of the unbelieving World that beheld him He appeared only to and was seen by none but by his Disciples who were to inform the World of this truth that he was raised The unbelieving Jews and Gentiles were not to see Christ's raised and glorified Body but to believe his Resurrection but Christ will so openly at last appear that every eye shall see him Rev. 1.7 They also that pierced him shall behold him Jews and Gentiles Heathens and Mahumetans Loose and Prophane Christians shall see him Believers and Saints shall then point him out with joy Lo this is our God we have waited for him Is 25.9 And he hath not deceived our Faith or frustrated our Hope and Expectation They that would not believe what they did not see shall now see but to their terror They that were averse from the Life of Faith and wholly devoted to the Life of Sense shall now have Seeing enough they shall behold what will affright dismay and overwhelm them God doth now require and call for a high and noble Exercise of Faith in relation to invisible things at which the Heathen of Old scoffed yet he doth and will condescend to give evidence and satisfaction as at Christ's first appearing he was visible to the eye of the Body Is 40.9 O Zion that bringest glad tidings lift up thy voice and be not afraid say unto the Cities of Judah Behold your God This was a strange and wonderful truth and Zion might be afraid to publish it yet she is twice bid to lift up her voice and that with strength not to be afraid aloud to sound out and proclaim this amazing and astonishing truth Say to the Cities of Judah Behold your God behold God is come down to you in a Humane Nature God is walking among you in a Body of Flesh preaching working Miracles familiarly conversing with you The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his Glory John 1.14 So at his second coming Christ will be evident to the eye and as it were pointed out by the Finger of Men Behold he cometh in the clouds and every eye shall see him Rev. 1.7 Saints shall say to those that have upbraided them with the invisible object of their Faith Lo this is our God we have waited for him Is 25.9 Tho' the unbelieving World did Reproach Christians and say Where is your God yet Saints one day consute all their Calumnies and silence all their Insultings and Upbraidings they shall point out Christ coming in all his Majesty and Glory and say Lo this is our God we have waited for him and he will save us and we will be glad and rejoyce in his salvation Is 25.9 5. This Revelation of Christ will cause Mourning to the greatest part of the World it will be a black bitter terrible day to most Matt. 24.30 All the Tribes of the Earth shall mourn all the Kindreds of the Earth shall wail because of him Rev. 1.7 when they shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven with power and great glory They shall mourn when it is too late to repent they shall wail when their sorrow will not prevent but begin their Punishment and Hell Now they shall to their cost know how great a Person they have refused and how high an Happiness they have rejected that they have turned from a Saviour and so forfeited true Blessedness and rebelled against the great God and so have incurred the worst and severest penalties These three things shall be reviewed and reflected on 1. What they have done 2. What they have lost 3. What they must suffer and endure to Eternity when they shall bleed by the edge of God's Sword and smart under the Chastisement of the Scorpions of Revenging Justice 1. Sinners that consider what they have done that they have turned away from him that spake out of the bosom of his Fathers love and from the Throne of his own glory Ps 81.11 That they would have none of him who is the true God and eternal Life that they stopped their Ears and hardned their Hearts against the wooings of the best Bridegroom against the call of the great Shepherd and of the Captain of Salvation against the intreaties of a Saviour and Redeemer They will now reflect on the frequent denials they gave to and the many affronts they put upon the Lord of Glory how they hated and abhorred his Yoke despised and loathed his Feast did not submit to and come into his Righteousness but rebelled resisted vexed and quenched the holy Spirit of God 2. They shall know now what they have lost that the Treasury of Grace will now be locked the Fountain of Life sealed the bowels of Christ will be for ever shut against them notwithstanding their extream poverty and misery The door of God's House will be shut never to be opened again How woful will this be to be excluded out of God's Palace and to be thrust out of his Kingdom
THE ABSOLUTE NECESSITY OF Spiritual Husbandry In breaking up our FALLOW GROUND Together with a DISCOURSE Of the Terrible Coming of CHRIST To Execute Vengeance on all that remain Fallow Ground and Obey not the Gospel By SAMVEL TOMLYNS M.A. and Minister of the Gospel in Marlborough LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheap-side near Mercers-Chapel 1699. TO Richard Wollaston Esq Grace Mercy and Peace be multiplied from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ A Spiritual Lethargy is the reigning Disease of this Age The Design of these Discourses is to Alarm the Secure to Awaken the Sleeping World Tho' Christ hath been a great while Invisible yet he will Appear to the Confusion and Terror of his Adversaries Tho' he hath long kept Silence yet he will roar out of Zion Tho' his Sword hath slept yet it will awake do Execution on and be Bathed in the Blood of Impenitent Sinners The Sins of Men and the punishing Hand of Christ will find out all his Enemies Numb 32.23 Psal 21.8 He that came at first to sase Men from their Sins yet being slighted and rejected will come a second time to destroy Men for their Iniquities They that have not prized a Day of Salvation shall Experience and feel a Day of Vengeance and Destruction How woful will the Estate of Sinners be when their own Accusing Consciences shall be as a fiery Oven Psal 21.9 within and the Vengeance of God be as a Furnace of Fire without and Sinners shall be Supported though but Tares and Chaff to be Eternal Fuel to this Fire It will be sweet to have a Well of Spiritual Water springing up within John 4.14 but it will be dreadful to have a Well of Fire to be burning in his Soul Alvarez de Semedo in his History of China speaks of such Wells of Fire kindled from Sulphurous Matter that burn and flame continually The corruption of the Soul allowed will breed that Worm that never dies I shall Rejoyce if the said Discourses do stir up Sinners to escape the Corruption that is in the World through Lust and to flee from the Wrath to come I have a due Respect to you for appearing for Nonconformists in your Station that they might not be over-pressed with Burdens I shall be glad if what I have written may contribute to the Advancement of your Salvation and stir you up to prepare to meet the Lord of Glory and to stand before the Judge of the whole World whose Eye Book and Balance will be dreadful to hardened Sinners at last But that Christ may appear as a Redeemer to perfect your Liberty and as a Bridegroom to marry your Soul is the earnest desire of Your Sincere and Affectionate Friend and Servant Samuel Tomlyns 2 Thes 1.7 8. And to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ IN these two Verses there are several weighty Truths 1. A Benefit that will be bestowed on Suffering Christians God will render Rest to those that are Troubled And Paul applies this sweet Truth to himself he puts in for a share and claims an Interest in it Rest with us 2. We have the Time when this Benefit shall be bestowed it is when the Lord Jesus shall be Revealed from Heaven The full Deliverance of the Oppressed Saints is Suspended till the Revelation of Christ he shall then do Right to the Oppressed and execute Vengeance on the Oppressors It is but reasonable that the Rest of the Members should depend on the Rest of their Head Psal 45.3 4. Christ is now desired to gird his Sword on his Thigh and to ride prosperously on the word of Truth and Righteousness And Christ is set forth by one riding on a white Horse with a Bow in his Hand and he went forth Conquering and to Conquer The Church is compared to the Horses in Pharaoh's Chariot Cant. 1.9 because by her Ministers she draws the Spiritual and Victorious Chariot of Christ through the World Though Christ hath a Rest as to his Person in Heaven and is above the reach and rage of his Enemies yet he is contending with and fighting against his Enemies He is winning the Hearts of his Elect and gathering them into his Kingdom and he is breaking his Enemies to pieces and putting them under his Feet 1 Cor. 15.25 26. but at last Christ will perfect and finish his Work He will appear as a Glorious and Triumphant Conqueror as one that hath won the Field and gained the Day He will sit on the Throne of his Glory Matt. 25.31 This implies a perfect Rest he shall fight and make War no more his People shall enter into his Palace Psal 45.14 15. and sit down with him in his Throne Pet. 3.21 and his Enemies shall be adjudged to Tormenting Fire and be shut up in an Eternal Prison 3. We have the Company that shall wait on Christ at his Appearing he shall come with his mighty Angels 4. We have the terrible manner of his Appearance it shall be in flaming Fire Christ is perfectly Holy and Righteous he can appear in flaming Fire yet not be hurt by it or suffer any thing from it This Fire will be hurtful to Christ's Enemies but harmless to himself He that appeared at first as the Day spring from on high comfortably to direct straying Souls into the way of Peace He that arises to those that fear God's Name as a Sun of Righteousness with healing under his wings Mal. 4.2 will now be revealed in flaming Fire to punish obstinate Rebels They that have refused and rejected Christ as a refining fire Mal. 3.2 3. shall now to their cost feel him to be a consuming fire He that once appeared incompassed with beams of Love shall now a second time appear surrounded with flames of Wrath. 5. We have the end of Christ's Revelation or why he will appear it is to render Vengeance It is in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 giving Vengeance O how dreadful and terrible a Gift is this He that is God's Almoner to distribute God's Alms of Mercy to poor penitent begging Sinners will have no other Gift to bestow on impenitent and unbelieving Souls but Vengeance It is said vengeance belongeth to me and I will recompence Heb. 10.30 Though to the Penitents and Believing it is said To the Lord belongeth Mercy yet as to obstinate Sinners Vengeance belongs to God Punishment is a just Debt belonging to the Wicked therefore it is said that God will repay Fury to his Adversaries Is 59.18 he will render his Anger with Fury and his Rebukes with Flames of Fire Is 66.15 Paul charges Christians to render to all their one Rom. 13.7 so Christ will render to hardened Sinners their due Sinners owe God glory to be raised out of their Misery and
of Christ they shall sit eat and drink with him at his Table Luke 22.29 30. in his Kingdom There is no Good absent at this Feast to cause a wandring of desire no Evil present to cause sighs and sorrow under it Here Saints may eat and be satisfied for ever 4. This will be a most Honorable Rest Saints that sit in the Throne with Christ Rev. 3.21 and reign in life for evermore As all Tears shall be wiped from their Eyes so Crowns shall be set on their Heads a Crown of Life and Righteousness Rom. 5.17 This is the highest Honour that Creatures can aspire to and therefore may be fully satisfied with and rest in it This Honour shall never be forfeited neither shall this Feast be disturbed and interrupted 5. The Saints that now are troubled shall rest with the best Company they shall be where Christ is Joh. 17.24 and they shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God Matth. 8.11 As they have been Companions with other Suffering Saints in the Kingdom and patience of Christ Rev. 1.9 so they shall enter into the same Joy possess the same Inheritance and partake of the same Feast with them If Servants shall be where their Lord is John 12.26 much more may they be assured of rest and refreshment with their Fellow Servants Though they be more eminent than they for Gifts Graces and Services yet they shall rest in the same Bosom of Love and sit in the same Throne of Glory What harmonious Melody what sweet Comfort will there be when all Suffering Saints shall be gathered together to sing the Praises of their Father to celebrate the Honour of the their Redeemer and be swallowed up for ever in the love of the Father Son and Spirit USE of the Doctrine If Troubled Saints shall have rest then be not afraid of do not start or recoil from the Cross of Christ it will end and issue in a Crown of Glory Your Sufferings are light your Glory will be weighty your Afflictions and Sorrows will be momentary but your Joys will be everlasting 2 Cor. 4.17 Do not buy the Worlds Peace with the Trouble and Terror of your Consciences Some Apostate Protestants in France had such burdened Consciences such wounded Spirits grew so weary of Life that they came and offered themselves to their Antichristian Enemies and desired that they would kill them Do not slavishly dread Sufferings for Christ did not your Lord endure greater Troubles for you John 12.27 28. Now saith Christ is my Soul troubled he made his Soul an Offering for Sin he poured out his Soul to the death Is 53.10 12. You are but in shallow waters of afflictions but Jesus Christ was in a deep Sea of Sorrows You have but some small drops that sprinkle you but he had a dreadful Storm that fell on him You have but some sparks that fly on you but the Lamb of God was roasted by the Fire of his Fathers Anger Do not think it strange if siery Trials should be kindled against you and break out on you 1 Pet. 4.12 Do not think to be Priviledged from Troubles and to be Exempted from Hardships on Earth and yet be secured from Pains and Torments in another World Satan will roar and wicked Men will rage against you In the World you shall have Tribulation but in Christ you shall have peace John 16.33 Though wicked Men do scorch your Bodies yet your Souls do sit under Christs cold shadow Cant. 2.3 And you shall have times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord Acts 3.19 Though you are appointed to Afflictions 1 Thes 3.3 yet God hath not appointed you to wrath but to obtain Salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Thes 5.9 You are now clouded with Sorrows and Reproaches but you shall shine out in the Kingdom of your Father Matth. 13.43 Your smoaking Furnace will issue in a burning Lamp Gen. 15.17 your sighs will be succeeded by Songs your darkness and shadow of Death will end in a bright and glorious Morning Persecutors will be cast into Prison and the Persecuted taken into the Palace Enemies shall seel cruel Bondage and Saints be Translated into glorious Liberty Wicked Men now Revile and Reproach the People of God but the Time is at hand when Christ will laugh at their Calamity and mock when their Fear cometh Prov. 1.26 but Saints shall have praise from Christ enter into the joy of their Lord and enjoy a rest that will abundantly recompence all their Troubles 2. When shall this rest be enjoyed It is said when the Lord Jesus shall be Revealed Two things are here affirmed 1. That the Lord Jesus shall be Revealed 2. That he shall be Revealed from Heaven The words give this Doctrine Doct. 2. The Lord Jesus shall be Revealed from Heaven 1. The Lord Jesus shall be Revealed 2. He shall be Revealed from Heaven 1. The Lord Jesus shall be Revealed This is necessary on a double Account 1. Jesus Christ was veiled and clouded in the World the Sun of Righteousness was in a continual Eclipse for about 33 Years Tho' he was Rich yet for our sakes he became Poor 2 Cor. 8 9. Tho' he was full yet he emptied himself Phil. 2.7 8. Tho' he was Lord over all God over all Rom. 9.5 yet he took on him the form of a Servant and this was as a thick Veil cast over all his Glory Phil. 2.9 The World saw no beauty in him Is 53.2 He was a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief Psal 22.6 He was trod on as a Worm Ps 10.9.23 and tossed up and down as a Locust by the Wind of his Adversaries fury From the Garden he was offeâ—d to Annas from Annas to Caiaphas from Caiaphas to Pilate from Pilate to Herod from Herod to Pilate again then to Golgotha Thus the Scripture was fulfilled That he was tossed up and down as a Locust So mean was his Condition and so low his Circumstances that the World did not know him John 3.1 and therefore a glorious Appearing of his is necessary Tit. 2.13 to let all the World know who and what he is and how they have been mistaken 2. Jesus removed and withdrew himself from the World he is Travelled into a far Country Luke 13.12 He is gone within the Veil Heb. 6.19 20. He is hid with God Col. 3.3 Thousands do love him tho' they have not seen him and believe on him tho' they do not yet see him 1 Pet. 1.8 The Object of our Faith is become invisible and far removed from the Eye of Sense and Christ doth stay so long that Wise and Foolish Virgins do fall asleep Matt. 25.5 And his Rebellious Citizens send a Message after him saying We will not have this Man to reign over us Luke 19.14 All those they cruelly persecuted and wickedly slew for Proclaiming Christ as King and calling them to bow down to his Royal Scepter were sent in this Embassy or with this Message after
he was received up into glory 2. To answer the hopes and expectation of his People they wait for a Saviour from Heaven Psal 3.20 and look for God's Son Jesus from Heaven 1 Thes 1.10 3. Christ will be Revealed from Heaven to shew the Spiritual Nature of his Kingdom that it is a heavenly Kingdom That he hath had his Throne in Heaven and from thence his Kingdom hath ruled over all He hath observed all the rage and actings of his enemies and all the love and obedience of his friends He hath inspected all the concerns of his Members and transacted all the affairs of his Kingdom This hath been honorable and glorious to Christ that he hath had a rest Is 1.10 in Heaven and yet neglected none of his work in repressing the rage of his enemies and in reviving the fainting spirits of his friends and steering all the affairs of his Church to a safe and happy Port. He hath supplied his poor and supported his weak Members 4. Jesus Christ will be Revealed from Heaven for the greater confusion and terror of his Enemies How will this affright and amaze them that he who they thought slept under the clods of the Earth should appear riding on the clouds of Heaven Rev. 1.7 that he who the Jews thought was suffering in Hell for deluding and deceiving the World should come to Judge the World and to Condemn Men to Hell for not believing on him Mark 6.16 Joseph was thought by his Brethren to be lost or dead but how were they confounded and troubled when they found him alive Gen. 45.3 heard him speaking to them saw him under Pharaoh Ruling over all the Land of Egypt So how will it dismay and overwhelm the unbelieving World when Christ that was thought to remain dead shall be presented to their eyes as alive When he that was ill treated by Men in the form of a Servant shall appear in the glory of a Lord to judge both the Quick and the Dead and shall be manifested as having all Power in Heaven and Earth committed to him and can justifie and crown those that have believed on him and condemn and punish those that have rebelled against him who neither have believed his Doctrine or obeyed his Commands USE of Examination Examine your selves under what Notion Christ will be Revealed and come to you at last Whether he will appear as your Friend or as your Enemy To your joy or sorrow As a loving Bridegroom to receive you to himself John 14.3 Or as an incensed Judge to Sentence and Cast you from himself saying Go ye cursed into everlasting fire Matt. 25.41 Will Christ come to give you any thing Will he bestow a Crown of Righteousness 2 Tim. 4.18 A Crown of Life Rev. 2.10 Will he call you to inherit an everlasting Kingdom Matt. 25.34 Or will Christ come upon you as a Thief in the Night to impoverish spoil deprive you of all the good things you now possess and enjoy Will not your Cisterns then be broken your Candles and Lamps be put out Will not your whole Paradise of sensual and sinful delights be lighted and blasted Will not Creatures be withdrawn from you and God himself also depart The floor and the Wine-press shall not feed you and God himself will leave and forsake you Hos 9.2 12. Will you not at once be turned out of your Stewardship and also be cut off from all hope of the heavenly Inheritance Will not Christ's coming be your utter undoing Will you not sustain a damage and loss never to be repaired For your wooing and buying time will be over the Spiritual Market will be at an end Will it not be sad when others are rich Heirs for you to be poor Bankrupts emptied and stript of all valuable and desirable good for ever Inquire therefore seriously and diligently how it stands with you in relation to Christ's coming Is Jesus Christ Revealed in you and to you and is his new Nature formed in you It is not Flesh and Blood but our Father that is in heaven that must reveal Christ to us Matt. 16.17 he that hath heard and learned of the Father comes to the Son Hath the spirit ever glorified Christ in your eyes Is he most precious to you If Christ be not Revealed to you while you are on Earth he cannot be Revealed from Heaven to your joy and comfort Have you an understanding to know the worth excellency and preciousness of Christ so that you give your selves to him and are in him If Christ do dwell in your hearts below you may be assured that you shall dwell in his House above Are you related to Christ Are you really his Gal. 5.24 They that are Christs have crucified the flesh They that are Christs shall be made alive at his coming 1 Cor. 15.23 Is the Match made up between Christ and you by a mutual Spiritual kiss Doth Christ kiss you expressing his servent love towards you and speaking powerfully and effectually to you the Doctrine of Grace the Word of Reconciliation The Gospel of Salvation is your own Interest in Christ's precious Promises sealed and delivered to you 2. Do you kiss Christ the Son of God Ps 2.12 Cant. 8.1 When Ishould find thee without I would kiss thee And Abraham Isaac and Jacob are said to salute kiss or embrace the Promises 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where the mouth of Faith doth meet with the mouth of Christ speaking the Word of Life and the promises of Spiritual Benefits is perswaded of them doth embrace them then the Soul kisses Christ There is also a kiss of Homage as Samuel kissed Saul acknowledging him as the Lord 's Anointed When we receive the Law from Christ's mouth and profess our subjection to his Scepter and obedience to his Laws then we kiss Christ 3. Are you willing that Christ should come Do you desire long for and love Christ's appearing The Church saith Make haste my beloved Cant. 8.14 When Christ said I come quickly she adds her Amen Even so come Lord Jesus Rev. 22.20 Christians are said not only to look for but to hasten the coming of the day of God 2 Pet. 3.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is by their wishings longings earnest desires Do you fervently love the appearing of Christ as that which will be exceeding honorable to him comfortable and beneficial to you Do you love Christ's appearing as that which will be exceeding glorious to him For by his voice he shall quicken raise call forth all that are in their Graves John 5.28 That Christ knows all that ever lived can distinguish their dust from the dust of one another and from the dust of the Earth That he knows all their thoughts words and actions remembers them and will call them to an account for them 1 Pet. 4.5 Then Christ will sit on the Throne of his glory and all Nations shall be gathered before him to be judged by by him This is the perfection of Christ's Kingdom and his
very unkind and inhuman that would not entertain and lodge Christ in their Houses But yet do not thousands of nominal and titular Christians shut Christ out of their Hearts they suffer Sin Satan and the World to keep possession but they shut out the Prince of Life the King of Glory the Heir of all things they are not willing that Christ should come in subject all to himself order and govern all for himself Guilt Poverty and Misery are shut into their Souls Righteousness Riches Life are shut out 7. This is grievous Disobedience to the Gospel that Men are not willing to be made clean or set free 1. They are not willing to be made clean As a Fountain casteth out her waters so Jerusalem casteth out her wickedness O Jerusalem wilt thou not be made clean Jer. 6.7 When shall it once be Is it not most reasonable that Souls should be made clean yet they return as the Dog to his vomit and as the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire 2 Pet. 2. last God pronounces woe to those that will not be made clean and will you deceive your selves and say it shall be well with you Christ tells us Except he washes us we can have no part with him in the Kingdom of Glory John 13.8 and will you give the Ly to Christ and credit Satan that you shall go to Heaven tho' you are not washed Can you thrust into the new Jerusalem into which no unclean thing shall enter Rev. 21. last Men sometimes promise fair and faintly resolve to cleanse themselves but when shall it once be they that cleanse not away their Filth must themselves be washed away as Spots from the Face of the Church and be abhorred by God for ever 2. Men are highly disobedient to the Gospel in that they will not be made free they are fond of their Fetters and hug their Chains as the Servant that rejected the benefit of the Year of Release or Jubilee saying I love my Master I will not go out free Exod. 21.5 6. So Men love Sin their old Master when a better choice is offer'd they stick to their old and first choice yea they have chosen their own ways and their Soul delights in their abominations Isa 66.3 The most of Men are like the carnal Israelites satisfied with their Slavery They said to Moses and Aaron Let us alone to serve the Egyptians Exod. 14.12 So Sinners would not be disturbed they would be let alone to serve the Devil and enjoy their Lusts 8. This is high disobedience to the Gospel that Men will not have Christ to reign over them they are incensed Isa 45.24 they rage against Christ Luke 19.14 27. Psa 2.1 but I may renew the Question that Pilate put to the Jews when they were so inflam'd against Christ What evil hath he done Mat. 27.23 Christ calls Souls out of Prison and from their wandrings and strayings he makes Men free from the Law of Sin and Death and is this to do Evil how unreasonable is it that Men should be so disaffected towards and so prejudic'd against the Kingdom of Christ when he reigns to destroy the reigning power of Sin Satan and Death and to exalt his Subjects now to reign with him in the Kingdom of Grace and hereafter to sit in the Throne and reign with Christ in the Kingdom of Glory O that Sinners should ever be so ungrateful to Christ and so injurious to their own Souls how mild benign and gracious is the Government of Christ he rules not only as a Political Head that gives Laws but as a Natural Head that gives Life and influences he governs as a Husband Brother and Saviour how reasonable therefore is it that our homage and subjection to him should begin in a Kiss of Faith and Love Psa 2. last But how provoking is this that Men chuse Sin and Satan a Murtherer and prefer him Before a Saviour This is to renew and revive the Affronts put on Christ at his Passion and to chuse Barabbas rather than Jesus Those that would not have Christ to reign over them for their Salvation do set up Satan to rule over them for their Destruction 9. This is ungrateful and highly provoking Disobedience to the Gospel that Men would have Christ to buy yet to possess and enjoy nothing They can be willing Christ should hire them and promise them a reward but they stand idle all the day long will do no Work for Christ they are idle and barren in the knowledg of Christ yea walk as Enemies to the Cross of Christ while they set up what he came to pull down and keep alive what he came to destroy Christ hath acted as a Shepherd and doth demand his price Zech. 11.12 Surely Love Service and Obedience is due to him but Men put off Christ with an empty Name of Lord and with a dead form of Religion they do not render the Fruits of a Vineyard or bring forth the Fruits of God's Kingdom their Knowledge is cold idle and barren as the light of a Glow-worm that is not sufficient to direct a Traveller in his way The Gospel should bring forth Fruit from the first day that Men know it Col. 1.5 6. it should be a Seal to stamp the Image of God on Men it should be a Mould to shape and fashion Mens Hearts and Lives Rom. 6.17 as the Sun riseth and Man goes forth to his work Ps 104 23. so when Christ ariseth and shineth in any Country Men should go forth to all the work of their heavenly calling Knowledge should not only float in the Head or be imprison'd in the Mind but should be a light to Mens Feet and a Lamp to their Paths Psal 119.105 But how many nominal Christians do love darkness and hate the light they still love to wander and in the broad day to follow Sin and Satan they do nothing of all that God commands them they only stray and work Iniquity and so deserve to be cast into outer darkness Jer. 14.10 Jer. 32.23 30. Mat. 8.12 JEREMIAH IV. 3. For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem Break up your fallow Ground and sow not among Thorns IN the words we may observe 1. a Speaker the Lord All Men should have an Ear to listen when the Lord hath a Tongue to speak 2. The Persons spoken to the Men of Judah and Jerusalem 3. The Exhortation or Counsel given to them Break up your fallow ground Three things are to be remarked in these words 1. That there were fallow grounds in Judah and Jerusalem that were a People chosen to be holy to the Lord and that might seem to themselves a fruitful Field a pleasant and delightful Paradise 2. This may also seem strange that they should be call'd to break up their fallow ground What an humbling abasing Expression is this they might think they had made a great progress in Religion and were advanced far towards a ripe Harvest of
25.41 They that are alienated from the Life of God and estranged from Communion with him how can they hope to be for ever with him 1 Thes 4.17 9. This should affect and awe your Souls that you are still under God's Eye and do evil in his sight Psal 51.4 The ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord and he pondereth all his goings Prov. 5.21 There is no darkness or shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves Job 34.22 This is peculiar to God that Malefactors are always in the presence and under the eye of him as their Judge and he is a Witness against them for all the Crimes they commit The Lord be witness against you 1 Sam. 12.5 10. How should this cut your Hearts that all your sins are marked Jer. 2.22 and all your crimes are written before him Is 65.6 The great King of the whole World writes the Chronicles of all the Lives and Actions of his Subjects all that Men speak think or do is Recorded in his Book Rev. 20.12 and Conscience keeps a Counter-part of the Record Their sin is graven as with a pen of iron and the point of a diamond in the table of their heart Jer. 17.1 11. God can make Malefactors to appear and present Delinquents before his Tribunal they cannot fly they cannot hide As for those mine Enemies that would not have me to reign over them bring them before me Luke 19.27 This is proper and peculiar to God that he can make all transgressors to appear and how dreadful will this be that they must appear 2 Cor. 5.10 where yet they cannot appear with any hope or confidence 1 Pet. 4 15. where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear They must stand before the Judgment-seat of Christ Rom. 14.10 yet the ungodly shall not stand in the Judgment Psal 1.5 O what terror may this strike into Men that God will bring them into judgment Eccles 11.9 and God will also bring all their secret actions into judgment Eccl. 12.14 God will bring all the hidden things of darkness to light 12. Impenitent Sinners shall be punished with an everlasting destruction which shall come from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power 2 Thes 1.9 The same Face that shines a Heaven into the Souls of Saints shall frown a Hell into the Consciences of the Wicked the same Arm that punishes shall support the punished still to endure more Torments as God will burn against and on Chaff Briers Thorns and Taras so he will preserve the Fuel and uphold it to Eternity Who knows the power of God's anger Psal 90.11 how miserable he can render a Creature that he fills up as a Vessel with his Wrath that he treads on as a footstool and shoots at as a Mark God asks Job Hast thou entred into the Springs of the Sea or hast thou walked in the search of the deep could he tell how deep the great Sea was could he come to the bottom of it Job 38.16 So it will be said to us Can you by the line and plumbet of your Reason sound and find out the bottom of the deep Sea of the Wrath of God Tophet is deep there is no coming up out of it Isa 30. ult The Gulf that is fixed is wide there is no passing over it Luke 16.26 And these things are near our breath is in our Nostrils ready to go out and the Judge stands at the Door ready to come in As the accusations and threatnings of the Law should be a Plough striking home and cutting deep into our Hearts so the Mercy of God in Christ and the Grace revealed in the Gospel should exceedingly wound and break our Hearts How amazing is this that when we had made God to serve with our Sins and wearied him with our Iniquities Isa 43.24 that the Son of God should take on him the form of a Servant to suffer to satisfie for and purge away our Iniquities Psal 2.76 Heb. 1.3 O that when God as a Creator Preserver Benefactor had been by our Lusts debased to be a meer Servant and Satan exalted to be the Prince yea the God of the World John 12.3 2 Cor. 4 4 5. that the Son of God should humble himself to be a Servant to his own Law as a Sacrifice to his Father's Justice to make an end of the guilt of Sin O that Christ should be sold to redeem us that he should be wounded to heal us that he should be arrested arraign'd and condemn'd to justifie us should not this make Hearts of stone to relent and break O that God should complain that he is broken with our whorish Hearts Ezek. 6.9 yet Christ to expiate and put away the guilt of these Whoredoms should complain that Reproach had broken his heart Ps 69.20 We had loaded God with our sins and provocations as a Cart is pressed under the sheaves Amos 2.13 O how amazing is it that God should lay all our sins on Christ Isa 53.6 and load him with our penalties and punishments that our Debt should be exacted of him our Curse executed on him that he should be as the Manna pounded in the Mortar that as a cluster of Grapes he should be bruised in the Wine-press of the Wrath and Justice of God! that as a Porter or bearer of burdens he should have our Iniquities bound on him and then bear them quite away The Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used of Christ Isa 53.4 He hath carried our sorrows and hence he that is a Porter or bearer of burdens is called 2 Chron. 2.27 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a man of burden This Name fitly doth agree to our Lord Jesus that he was a Man of burden Never did any one bear so vast a load so great a burden We found out Inventions to inslave our selves Eccl. 7. ult and God found out a Ransom to redeem and set us at liberty Job 33.24 We hated him without a cause and he loved us freely and without a cause how should this Grace melt our hard and warm our cold Hearts with love to God shall we continue in the torrid Zone of Enmity and Lust when Believers are brought into and dwell in the torrid Zone of Love It is now possible that our Wilderness may blossom as a Rose that our dry Ground may be water'd improv'd and inrich'd Isa 35.1 44.3 4. Enemies may be reconcil'd dead Souls quicken'd and such as have been Satan's Children and meer Strangers to God may be adopted and taken into his Family 3 Q. Why must our fallow Ground be broken up I answer 1. That our carnal Confidence in our selves may be mortified and rooted out our Pride must be abated our high Mountain of carnal Confidence must be level'd Isa 40.4 How many do trust in themselves that they are righteous Luke 15.8 and this is directly contrary to believing in Christ Gal. 2.16 that they might be justified Those that have some Planks
I shall abundantly utter the memory of that Goodness Two things are here to be observed 1. That the Creatures are such Preachers as never do keep silence day unto day uttereth speech It offers new Matter of Contemplation and Admiration and Night unto Night sheweth Knowledge Every succeeding Night instructs the preceding Night and makes some farther and new Discoveries of God that should more enlighten the Minds and affect the Hearts of Men towards God 2. The Creatures preach God in a Speech and Language that all Nations may understand though their Languages are so confounded and are not understood by other People and Nations there is no Speech or Language where their voice is not heard The most ignorant and brutish Barbarians may understand the Speech and Language that the Creatures do preach in The confusion of Babel doth not hinder the Creatures from being understood in what they publish and declare of God 3. There is a great Book in which Men may read God Psal 19.4 Their Line is gone forth into all the Earth and their Words to the end of the Earth The Pages of this great Book are the Sea the Heavens and the Earth And this Book still lieth open and the most ignorant illiterate and unskilful may read in this Book and understand somewhat of its Contents This is a long Line that reacheth to the ends of the Earth and it is written in such great and Capital Letters that all may read it 4. Men are in the World as in a great Room all hung round with Glasses he that is in such a Room may clearly and plainly see the Attributes and Excellencies of God The invisible things of God from the Creation of the World are clearly seen Rom. 1.20 They are evidenced and demonstrated to Sense yet so that the Understanding doth help the Senses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They are understood by the Mind that contemplates the things that are made and so Sense by the assistance of the Mind doth clearly see invisible things 5. There are Garments with which God is Clothed and in which he may be seen Psal 104.2 David saith to God Who coverest thy self with Light as with a Garment The Psalmist plainly refers to God's Creation of Light Gen. 1.3 God said let there be Light and there was Light God did then put on this bright and glorious Creature as a Garment As the Greatness Majesty and Glory of Kings is seen in their Clothing so God is known how Powerful how Good how Wise he is by his Works Scultetus saith on Psal 104. Vestis Dei Contemplanda si Deum Contemplari volueris You must view God's Garment if you will Contemplate God himself for God himself otherwise is invisible We cannot come to the naked Divine Essence but we must see the first Cause clothed with Effects in the Works of Creation and Providence As when God comes forth to execute Justice he is said to Clothe himself with the Garments of Vengeance Isa 59.17 He puts on the Garments of Vengeance for Clothing and was clad with Zeal as a Cloak Hath God Clothed himself with so many and such glorious Garments Are his Attributes so visible in his Creatures And are not Men inexcusable that know not God who daily comes forth to us Clothed in his Works of Creation and Providence and thereby renders himself visible to us Quest But what do these Witnesses Preachers Books Glasses Garments of God discover and make known Answ The Being the Eternity Wisdom Power and Goodness of God 1. The Being of a God the invisible things of God from the Creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his Eternal Power and Godhead or his Divine Being Where there are Effects there must be a Cause where there are Streams there must be a Fountain If you will trace follow and persue the smallest stream it will at last bring you to the Ocean so follow the smallest Rivulet of Creature-Beings and it will bring you to God the infinite Sea of Being Where there is so great a House raised with so much Art and Skill there must needs be a Builder None ever saw a House built by Chance or Accident and what Folly and Madness is it to think that this great House of the World was built by a Casual yet Lucky meeting of Stones together The Creatures are not of themselves and therefore cannot be from Eternity That only that is Infinite Omnipotent All wise can be from Eternity Creatures are not so and therefore cannot be from Eternity Ask any Man living did you make your self none can be so impudent to affirm that he made himself And there is the same Reason against his Father or any other Man that he did not make himself therefore Men must necessarily come to a First Man and to a God that made him Thus the Creatures do demonstrate the Being of a God 2. The Creatures declare the Eternity of God He that made all things must necessarily be before them Col. 1.17 He is before all things and by him all things were made and consist Col. 1.16 17. From everlasting to everlasting he is God Psal 90.2 If God were not from Eternity the World could not have had a beginning or any Creature have been formed 3. The Creatures proclaim the power of God Rom. 1.20 his eternal power Men speak words but God speaks things by his word he calls things that are not Rom. 4.17 And their answer is to rise spring up and exist that which is nothing yet hears and obeys God God said let their be Light let the Earth bring forth Trees Plants Herbs and Flowers and it was so and yet the Earth had no Seed of these things in it self Gen. 1.11 12. And as God speaks Creatures so he breaths the Soul Gen. 2.7 God breathed into mans nostrils the breath of life and he became a living soul And God writes in the Minds and Wills of Men none but he can reach or come at these Tables and write in them And God doth not as Men write Syllables and Words but he writes new Principles Habits Dispositions and Inclinations he writes Light in the Mind and Love in the Will Consider of these three glorious Effects of the power of God That he speaks Creatures breathes Souls writes new Principles and Inclinations in the Soul The power of God gloriously shines in the Work of Creation 1. That he made all things out of nothing Heb. 11.3 Things which are seen were not made of things which do appear That is They were made out of nothing There did not appear any eternal First Matter out of which God made all things Other Artists do not make their Matter but they must have it made to their Hands but God made all things out of nothing 2. God made all things By the Word of his Power Psal 33.6 were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth Psal 33.9 He spake
and it was done he commanded and it stood fast 2. God made all things without any Assistant or Heiper Isa 44.24 I am the Lord that maketh all things that stretcheth forth the Heaven alone that spreadeth abroad the Earth by my self 3. There was none that invented a Pattern or drew a Scheme or Draught to direct God to Work by 4. None gave God Counsel or Instructed him what he should do or how he should Work Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord or being his counsellor hath taught him With whom took he counsel and who instructed him and taught him in the path of judgment and taught him knowledge and shewed to him the way of understanding Isa 40.13 14. 5. God hangs the earth on nothing Job 26.7 This amazed Aristotle de Mundo That if you did throw up a clod of Earth into the Air it would not hang there and that yet the whole Globe of the Earth and Water should hang in the Air and all things be born up by the Word of God's power Heb. 1.2 It is said of God in Psal 95.4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth God's Hand carries the whole Globe of the Earth its Foundation is laid in his Hand and is supported by him 6. There is a daily strong confirmation of the History of the Creation and such an evident demonstration of the power of God it plainly appears that it is true That all things came from nothing at first because they daily spring and rise from such small contemptible beginnings as are next kin to nothing As that from an Acron should grow an Oak of above twenty four Tun of Timber In the New Forest it is said there was cut an Oak that Top Lop Root and Body was eight and twenty Tun of Timber That from a small Grain of Mustard-Seed such a Tree should grow as Christ speaks of Matt. 13.31 32. 4. The Creatures declare the Wisdom of God That out of a Chaos without Form Beauty or Order God should draw forth and raise so beautiful a World Athenagoras in his Legat. for the Christians tells us That Plato called the World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Art of God The Apostle Paul uses a Word much to the same Sense 1 Cor. 1.21 The World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Wisdom of God that is in the Frame of Heaven and Earth in which the Wisdom of God doth so eminently shine by their Natural Wisdom or Understanding did not know God The Wisdom of God appears in the making of the World 1. In making such various sorts of Creatures Sixteen hundred sorts of Herbs are said to grow in England and four thousand distinct Vegetables Plants and Trees are reported to be and grow in the Physick Garden at Oxford None but an Infinite Understanding could form the different Ideas of so many thousands of sorts of Flowers Trees Birds Beasts and Fishes 2. That Objects should be so exactly fitted to the Senses of Men Colours to the Eyes fragrant Smells to the Nose sweet and grateful Relishes to the Taste Sounds to the Ear this could not be a Work of Chance but of Infinite Wisdom 3. That God should form several Creatures one higher than another and subordinate to another God is said to build his Stories in the Heaven Amos 9.6 There is the lowest the middle the highest Heavens as several Stories in a great and high Building so God buildeth up Stories of Creatures on the Earth There are Plants that are the lowest Story Beasts that are a higher Story and Man that is the highest Story in this lower World and these are subservient to each other The Plants and Grass seed the Beasts and Beasts do nourish Men and they should devote themselves to the Service and Worship of God 4. That God should put such Shapes and Signatures on Herbs to shew something what they were made and are good for Eye-bright hath the figure and shape of an Eye and is an excellent Herb to cure the Maladies of the Eye Pimpernel hath something like the Plague-spots under its Leaves and is of excellent Virtue against the Plague 5. That Herbs proper to cure Diseases do naturally grow in the Country where the Disease reigns As Scurvy-grass in England and in other Northern Countries doth spring up Naturally And yet an Experiment hath been made and much Art used and Care taken to Plant and Cultivate Scurvy-Grass in some parts of France where the Disease is not known and it would not grow 6. Some Herbs do Figure the Part that they are good to Heal As Adders-Tongue Hearts-Tongue Rib-wort Wood-Sorrel that hath the shape of a Heart is accounted a good Cordial Herb. 7. How doth God's Wisdom appear in placing the Sun Psal 19.4 In the Heaven God is said to have made a Tabernacle or Dwelling-place for the Sun That part of the Heavens that is between the two Tropicks of Cancer and Capricorn in which the Sun still moves or is may be stiled the Tabernacle of the Sun This is wonderful Wisdom that the Sun should be so situated in the midst of the Heavens to communicate Light and Heat to the whole World successively That the Sun never goes beyond the Tropicks but doth in so orderly a way return to us again and observe such an exact Course in the lengthning or shortning of the days the Sun doth not Rise or Set two days in the same place God puts this Question to Job Job 38.12 Hast thou commanded the morning Hast thou caused the day-spring to know its place And Psal 104.19 The Sun knoweth his going down The Sun doth Rise and Set in different places every day yet it is said to know the place of its Rising and Setting as if it had a Principle of Reason and Understanding that the Days and Heat should increase and decrease in such a stated course That we do not pass from the extremity of Cold into the scorching Heat of Summer but through a Spring that doth partake of Gold and Heat mixed And that we do not pass out of the heat of the Summer into the extremity of Winter cold but through an Autumn that hath a mixture of some heat and cold This is wonderful Wisdom that God hath clothed and beautified the Sun with such a glorious Garment of Light Psal 19.5 6. Which is as a Bridegroom coming out of his chamber that God hath given him so swift a motion that he rejoyceth as a strong man to run a race His going forth is from the end of the heaven and his circuit unto the ends of it O how wonderful is God's Wisdom and Power to make a Sun that should run round the World every day with so swift a motion That God should furnish the Sun with so great a heat that it is said there is nothing hid from the heat of it It pierces even to the Roots of Plants and Trees and reaches into the bowels of the Earth This also is wonderful That the Sun rising