hitherto hidden from some because they would not search the Scriptures for there they might have found it so and accordingly have prepared to have given up their Accounts The good may be hence quickned to do more to take hold of every Opportunity to lay up a greater Foundation against the Time to come to seek and do the Work of the Lord diligently and to improve every Talent to the utmost And the evil might presently have ceased to do wickedly turn and be more zealous in the other Way Faith apprehends so of things future as Memory and Recollection is to the past Herein appears the Excellency of the Understanding and reasonable Soul that she sees things afar off and remembers those behind But those things here are scarce worth our Remembrance but what things we are further told of they are all Wonder and Astonishment because they are so exceeding great and enduring Which will fill the Soul though opened wide and to the utmost and satisfie every Wish and Desire and these things are always to remain When these things shall be present before us we shall admire and be vexed within our selves that we did not more towards the obtaining them Even thus it will be of those who considered and did most that usually Men do Our Fathers received the Promises and saw them afar off they now stand more abundantly confirmed unto us being so indubitably made known that we are more fully perswaded of them and do embrace them So the Exhortation runs yet more forcible to cleanse our selves from all Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God and to do all things that we may be found accepted of him at the last Day Even thus much we may discern at present that the Lord sitteth above all his Creatures He hath revealed how we the Inhabitants of the Earth are to behave our selves towards him He hath prepared his Seat for Judgment and his Kingdom ruleth over all neither is any Creature that is not manifest in his Sight But all things are naked and opened unto the Eyes of him with whom we have to do We cannot know him as he knoweth us for he seeth us and all our Ways clearly but we now see thro' a Glass darkly And as we are mere Creatures who have nothing but what we have received so we know nothing but what he first made known and revealed unto us Our Saviour abode on the Earth Forty Days after his Passion on the Cross and Resurrection from the Grave speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God Acts 1. 3. very few of which are recorded And though many things are written which he made known in the Course of his Ministry yet the beloved Disciple John saith Many other things truly did Jesus in the Presence of his Disciples which are not written in this Book John 20. 30. So before his coming into the World God discovered his Will by Prophets and holy Men spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost And there have been since further Manifestations of divine Knowledge and Truth And yet still the Skies will be more opened and Righteousness shall be poured down Drop down ye Heavens from above and let the Skies pour down Righteousness Let the Earth open and let them bring forth Salvation and let Righteousness spring up together I the Lord have created it Isa 45. 8. He shall come down like Rain upon the mowen Grass as Showers that water the Earth Psal 72. 6. Truth shall spring out of the Eorth Psal 85. 11. Both as to the Element it self and also as to the Inhabitants thereof Let the People praise thee O God let all the People praise thee Then shall the Earth yield her Increase and God even our own God shall bless us Psal 67. 5 6. He shall make known those Arts and Means that the Earth shall yield her Increase so abundantly that there shall be no hungry and empty Soul but there shall be more than sufficient for every Creature whatever He shall give such a plentiful Fleece on the Sheep and may discover those other Ways for cloathing as to cover all the naked in our Land Bring ye all the Tithes into the Store-House that there may be Meat in mine House and prove me now herewith saith the Lord of Hosts If I will not open the Windows of Heaven and pour ye out a Blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it Mal. 3. 10. Mankind hath been hitherto proved wihther they will obey and trust in their God The poor hath been a long while suffered among them to see whether they will will provide for and do them good and they have not yet been so obedient and trusted unto him as they should But let them once do so let all the People praise him and then prove him whether he will not do those great things for us Whether he will not deal yet more bountifully even in those things for the sake of which People now transgress against him The Earth is the Lord's and the Fulness thereof Psal 24. 1. The Silver is mine and the Gold is mine saith the Lord of Hosts Hag. 2. 8. so he can disclose it whensoever he will perhaps more than hath been yet seen and talked of And I will give thee the Treasures of Darkness and hidden Riches of secret Places Isa 45. 3. He can shew us where are the several rich Mines and some way bring to our Knowledge whatever Worth and Excellency lies hid at present in the Bowels of the Earth So there may be sufficient yea and abundance for all And there may be such exceeding Plenty even of the formerly beloved Mammon that they shall even loath and not esteem it because there is no such intrinsick Goodness in it as was supposed And things will be as readily done without as heretofore they were greedy and eager after it The Nature and End of every thing relating to us shall be perfectly understood and how they conduce to our real Good and Happiness As things shall be fully made known which tend to the Use Well-being and Delight of the Body so the same will be discerned concerning the Soul The hidden Man of the Heart will come forth and as that even now doth clearly appear in the Sight of God so it will be yet more manifested to our View that we may also know what is in Man as we see his outward Face The Thoughts of many Hearts shall be revealed so we may as evidently perceive them as we behold the working of their Hands or their goings up and down upon bodily Feet The Lord saith behold all Souls are mine Ezek. 18. 4. He challengeth a peculiar Property in them and yet he hath sent forth a peremptory Decree The Soul that sinneth it shall die The Soul hath a Knowledge of this which cannot be shaken off so imprinted that though it may be somewhat defaced yet it cannot be worn out The Desire and Tendency
turned upside down such are thought not to seek the Welfare of this People but the Hurt Jer. 38. 4. who are not willing that any should Perish but that all should come to Repentance who Study Pray and Teach and do use all the outward means possible to help forward the common Salvation But this is our Comfort and Encouragement that the Spirit of God witnesseth the same which we also find and wish in our Hearts That they do indeed bring Good Tidings and publish Peace and also that they have Good Will towards Men notwithstanding they are esteemed and reproached contrariwise by the World Even the Saviour thereof unto whom this and all Scripture hath more especial Relation witnessed what himself found The World hateth me because I testifie of it that the Works thereof are Evil John 7. 7. But this is a double Iniquity first to do Evil and then what is yet worse To hate him even Jesus whom God sent to bless them in turning away every one of them from his Iniquities Acts 3. 26. In order to which it is first necessary to tell and shew them thereof When God would have Men turn from their evil doings they kill and evil intreat those whom he sends on his Message They hate him that rebuketh in the Gate and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly Amos 5. 10. They cannot endure to be interrupted in their course But is their course Good or Evil right or wrong If the VVorld did that which is Good and Righteous they need not be afraid of the Ministers of God for then they would meet with Praise and Encouragement from them instead of what they now look upon as Trouble and Disturbance Then indeed all three would meet together Glory to God in the highest and on Earth Peace Good Will towards Men Luke 2. 13. When the People are gathered together and the Kingdoms to serve the Lord when they walk and agree in his Fear and Obedience then they have Râ—st and Comfort Then we may do as others do as long as they keep unto the same Rule and so long we have Peace and rejoycing one with another But then we do after this or that manner not because others do the like but we see it thus written and we are so directed This is one considerable difference between the Good and Evil Righteous and VVicked that the first have a set Rule of Action God and his VVord whereas the Evil and VVicked have not so much regard to that but they are led on by the Example of others and by their own Imaginations The Example is the Multitude of the Richer sort who though fewest in Number yet have Influence on many for these crave after VVorldly Goods and have their Their Persons in Admiration the which they bestow and convey down to have others that are thus beholding unto and dependant on them So that here it may be reduced that for Profit and Interest they act after this manner But even this Argument if stretched out throughly would bring them into the right way What is a Man profited if he should gain the whole World and lose his own Soul Matt. 16. 20. Is not Happiness and Salvation more than present Gain and Advantage And what if that should be lost by omission of Duty and commission of Sin They misemploy that Diligence and precious Time which might be spent on a more excellent thing and would tend to better account For every Man shall bear his own Burthen Gal. 6. 5. And likewise every one shall receive the reward of his own Labour And therefore what others do what is that to thee Mind thy self and thine own things Thou wouldst have good to thy self and avoid Misery why then go in the way and use the Means accordingly Anothers Happiness extends not to thee for it rather raises Envy and a greater Resentment So that the Misery of others is but a poor Reiief and Comfort to thine own Still as thou art divided from others so thou must labour to secure and embetter thine own Condition abstracted and separated from that of Others The whole World lieth in Wickedness 1 John 5. 19. Which as sure as God's Word is true will involve them into Condemnation and Misery Even those who now are for living according to the vain Manners and Customs of the VVorld would not willingly have such an End But it is the particular Sins of several Persons which make up the general corruption of Many and they are subject to that Punishment which is now denounced from Heaven and will be inflicted accordingly at the time spoken of Can thine Heart endure or can thine Hands be strong in the days that I shall deal with thee I the Lord have spoken it and will do it Ezek. 22. 14. When thou criest let thy Companies deliver thee But the wind shall carry them all away Isa 57. 13. They are under the same smart and pain themselves and cannot case thee but rather increase your Howlings and cause a deeper sense of that Misery which ye are all plunged into It will not be a sufficient exchange for the loss of Eternal Happiness to be a little puffed up with following the humours and ways of the Multitude for the utmost advantage and conveniency thereof at present cannot recompense for the Danger of what is to come The reputation of Good Nature of being Sociable and Compliant All the Ease gain and Profit thereof cannot countervail so great a Loss and Pain Much less will not those things whereof there is no benefit at all but only to gratifie a sudden transient Humour and barely to conform unto the Example and Practice of others Of which nature are those several things of Ungodliness and that fashioning and corrupting the several parts of the Worship of God The chief Reason why so many continue Ungodly and do not tread God's Courts or they do it only on the Lord's day and not every day as was the manner of the first Christians to Continue daily in he Temple Acts 2. 46. Is because they see that most do the like of the same Age and Circumstances with themselves And they are for not varying from the because they would not be accounted odd and singular nor have their Reputation lessened Now to examine this and other things of like Nature by that often mentioned Rule In every thing one takes in hand or admits of and so in all Debates and doubts of Mind it might be reduced to this Whether the good or evil of a thing will be greater Whether it is better to do or to leave such a thing undone And that taking in the consideration of the time to come as well as the present for that will as certainly be present also And then a Wise Man knoweth what he hath to do or not to Choose or Refuse Now if in the present Case that single Thought only will do a Man as much good and stand him in as much stead throughout a whole Eternity as
Righteousness and Holiness were ingrafted into the Hearts of all Men so that they did live and were led by it at all times and in all places The Spirit of God would dwell in them 1 Cor. 3. 16. As God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my People And I will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters saith the Lord God Almighty 2 Cor. 6. 16 18. VVhat is requisite to all this we may read in the first Verse of the following Chapter Having therefore these Promises both those aforementioned are included for it is expressed in the plural number let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit Perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God 2 Cor. 7. 1. Be ye clean ye that bear the Vessels of the Lord Isa 52. 11. And from what is written Thou hast taken Captivity Captive VVe learn that God hath taken even Sin and Corruption Captive which heretofore did hold the Children of Men in Slavery and Captivity But when every Thought in them also is brought into Captivity unto the Obedience of Christ God will plant somewhat else in the room thereof Thou hast received Gifts for Men even the qualifications of his Grace and the fruits of his Spirit Yea for the Rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell among them Psal 68. 18. So that though Men and Women have been Rebellious and Disobedient formerly yet when those Rebellious Thoughts and Imaginations are brought into Captivity when the Gifts of God are first lodged in the Soul to make it ready and meet beforehand the Lord God himself will come and dwell amongst them also So that whereas it was before mentioned And the Lord said My Spirit shall not always strive with Man for that he also is Flesh Gen. 6. 3. And the reason hereof was assigned because the Flesh did so very often overcome the Spirit when the Children of Men did Rebel and Vex and Grieve and Quench the Spirit yet the Blessing and Saying of Gad is made good and herein is found true A Troop shall overcome him but he shall overcome at last Gen. 49. 19. So a Troop of Lusts and a Legion for they are many of Temptations have overcome the Spirit but the Spirt shall overcome them at last And the Spirit shall have that Dominion and Prevalency in the hearts of all Men that all its Dictates and Motions shall be so willingly and immediately obeyed and complied withal that there shall be no striving of the Spirit with Man for he shall forthwith and presently go as that commands him to go and come as that bids him to come and do this or that according as the Spirit saith without any such thing as Reasoning and Perswasion or striving in the Heart for there will not be the least Reluctancy or Unwillingness God who sees and knows the things afar off doth foresee this also that even Flesh will become so Spiritual that they shall obey all his Commands and execute his Statutes without any striving of the Spirit but only upon the first motion and making of it known unto their Hearts CHAP. VIII Towards the end of Time and in the latter days All the Inhabitants of the Earth will be turned and brought over unto God Which will be done and accomplished by the Pouring out of the Spirit upon us from on High IF it be asked But when shall these things be I Answer Tho there may be some tendency and preparation thereto in the mean while yet we must not expect nor look for it absolutely and fully Vntil the Spirit be poured down upon us from on High Isa 32. 15. Which shall acquaint us with the things of God and of Heaven in a most wonderful and plentiful manner that we shall then know them as clearly distinctly and truly as now we do the common things of this Earth which are now visible and present before us My Doctrine shall drop as the Rain My Speech shall distill as the Dew as the small Rain upon the tender Herb and as the showers upon the Grass Deut. 32. 2. After that very manner hath the Word and Spirit of the Lord came to the several Men and Women of the former Generations by Droppings and Distillings like small Rain and as the Dew or Showers But this pouring forth of the Spirit upon us from on High will be like great Drops running on continually together or raining down Bucket fulls at once as the common proverbial Speech is When all the Fountains of the great Deep shall be broken up and the windows of Heaven shall be opened Gen. 7. 11. In this sence also So that all the things that are in the Earth or Sea or in the Hearts of the Children of Men shall be openly disclosed and made known And the windows of Heaven shall be opened so that we shall as clearly see and perceive the things there as now by looking through the Window thereof we see the things that are in such a Room of an House as when we are in it and look through the Casement we see the things in the next adjoining Court And that it will be all thus made known Universally at once we are given to understand by what is Written Drop down ye Heavens from above and let the Skies pour down Righteousness Let the Earth open and let them bring forth Salvation and let Righteousness spring up together I the Lord have Created it Isa 45. 8. God hath made and ordained that it shall be so that the Heavens shall drop down the things contained therein They shall be so made known unto and had by us as if they were actually dropped down and next to us The Earth also shall open and bring forth the things contained in her which heretofore lay underneath and hidden All this shall be done together And it is observable how they are all expressed by these two VVords Righteousness and Salvation By the first is shewn forth the nature of them as they are fixed and connected together after the Image of him who Created them that is in eternal and immutable Righteousness And because that in the Earth those things are which now hurt and destroy therefore God who causeth Light to shine out of Darkness and by his own way of working Which is marvellous in our eyes will cause that both Heavens and Earth do open and let them It is expressed in the Plural Number and therefore both of them shall have an hand and part in it As to bring forth Salvation and Righteousness is to spring up together with it Intimating that besides that Righteousness which the Skies shall pour down another Righteousness shall spring up together with it By the Phrase of Springing up we learn that this will proceed out of the Earth Truth shall spring out of the Earth and Righteousness shall look down from Heaven Plal. 85. 11. That is both
Knowledge of the Truth Whatever is dictated to any and is tending to good the same is to be complied with and actually done and so on whatever can be reached further or apprehended more Nothing is created in vain nor yet should lye still and remain to no Purpose but the same should answer the very Ends for which each thing was made and ordained This is to be observ'd not only in natural and common things but necessarily and more especially in eternal and spiritual things and so we should press unto the Mark of the high calling God hath created and left us in such a State as to prove whether we will do that to which he hath already enabled us and doth require If we do not it is at our Fault and Peril and we shall be subject unto Loss and Misery But yet the Eyes which were made to see should and may see the Ears to hear and who have Hearts and Understandings given to perceive they may perceive Deut. 29. 4. As Men profess themselves to be Servants of the most high God so they should do his revealed Will and perform what he hath said in his standing and written Word by which he now speaketh from Heaven all one as if we heard outwardly his Voice And then they should take hold of the Skirt of their Neighbours and cause them to go and hear the Word of the Lord. Using the like Endeavour and Perswasion drawn only from divine Arguments and Considerations as the wicked and Companions in Sin do entice one another by their Arts and Means Yea and they should so lay hold of them that they shall not go back unless they rent some Piece of their Garments that they may as it were be compelled Luke 14. 25. to their own Good and Salvation that if they will still refuse and give back it may be with greater Difficulty and Striving And if they do resist the first or second Importunity yet by continual asking and putting in Mind the ungodly and wicked may be wearied Luke 18. 5. till they first hear and then they will come to receive and yield unto the Words of eternal Life Then the Eyes of the Blind shall be opened and the Ears of the Deaf shall be unstopped Isa 35. 5. They also that erred in Spirit shall come to Vnderstanding and they that murmured shall learn Doctrine Isa 29. 24. However at first this may be esteemed uncivil and troublesome to the Neighbourhood and Community yet is very consistent and agreeable with the Welfare and Happiness of Mankind for many to joyn together and severally that it may be no strange nor singular thing to endeavour in all good Conscience and the greatest Earnestness to bring People off from Ignorance Sloth and Deadness in Sin to Knowledge be doing good and the spiritual Life that coming out of carnal Security they may discern and follow the things which belong to their Peace and thence lead them up to the holy Hill It can be no Harm to rescue any from the Place of Torment to pull him though never so much against his Will like a Brand out of the Fire Ye that make Mention of the Lord keep not Silence And give him no Rest till he make Jerusalem a Praise in the Earth Isa 62. 6 7. So we are to do the like and endeavour what we can to gather the People and make them meet and ready a People prepared for the Lord. Each Master of a Family may order the Word of Exhortation and Instruction to be read unto his whole House Or where he is backward or negligent then the Wife of his Bosom or a Son or a Servant who is rightly disposed towards God they ought to give the House no Rest but be urgent and importunate till it be made known unto and understood by them That as our God hath given Precept upon Precept Precept upon Precept Line upon Line Line upon Line here a little and there a little Isa 28. 10. It being doubly ranked and several times enforced yea and repeated over and over So it is to be continually inculcated till it hath gotten the Victory over all rebellious and stubborn Hearts And when this or the like Method is used as the Spirit shall direct or incline in our own Nation and every Part thereof we may assuredly gather Acts 16. 10. that God hath called us to preach the Gospel unto others Surely the Isles shall wait for me and the Ships of Tarshish first to bring thy Sons from far their Silver and Gold with them unto the Name of the Lord thy God And to the holy one of Israel because he hath glorified thee And the Sons of Strangers shall build up thy Walls and their Kings shall minister unto thee Isa 60. 9 10. It hath been the Way and Method of God's gracious dealing towards the Children of Men to help towards their Good by little and little to bring them on from less to greater and still to make beter and increase Psal 115. 14. their Condition Who first laid the Foundations of the Earth and ordained the gathering together of Waters who settled the habitable Parts of the Earth and divided Country from Country by Rivers Seas and Rocks he could have made it all one Continent and Plain Who gave Life and Motion in such a Degree as now the doth he might have raised it to what Pitch of Activity and Speed he pleased By the same Power we might have been made to walk on the Waters or to ride on an Horse through the Deep But he hath established things in wonderful Wisdom and Counsel for great and excellent Ends even in those which seem ordinary and common Seeing many things but thou observest not Isa 42. 20. As God made every thing so he gave Man that Skill and Knowledge to build Boats and Vessels for the Water and to send forth from one Place to another Now consider the utmost End and Design of Navigation whether to keep Intercourse and Correspondence with other Nations Desire of Gain and their Commodities or to maintain the busie Nature of Man in Employment Yet there is one thing greater than all that is to bring down God from above by the Word of Faith which we preach that People may be more acquainted with him to give them Knowledge of Salvation and tell them of the greater Communion and gathering together of his People which shortly will be more than hath been ever since the World began and in the mean while all things are to be done which may hasten and make ready towards the Accomplishment thereof To make known the things which belong to their Peace and their eternal Exaltation and Happiness which is more than all the Gold of Ophir To assure them that they shall and tell them the Way how they may live blessed for ever which is more than the best temporal Livelihood This is the best Use and End of Navigation If we did look up and could see the Heavens opened
that vast and wide Place to which the great and wide Sea is not so much as a small single Pool of Water is now to the whole Ocean Every thing above is so astonishing that all the Wonders of the Deep are not so much as the purling of a little Brook or Stream To see the King in his Beauty and to behold the Land that is very far off Isa 33. 17. is infinitely more delightful than the Gaudiness of Eastern Emperors or all the pleasant Places of all the Earth Our Souls shall mount up there after they have for some time dwelt in this earthly Cottage They now are weary of and get above all things here and do apprehend the other by Faith which will be revealed in Sight and Enjoyment God doth all things in his own Order O that thou wouldst rent the Heavens that thou wouldst come down Isa 64. 1. He might open and display his own Majesty and make himself seen in his Glory or he might infuse his Word and Spirit immediately into the Hearts of every Soul of every Nation under Heaven to give them Knowledge and Assurance that these things are so But he hath spoken to the World by the Prophets his Son and Apostles who lived in the Land of Judea and others are to receive it from them and to publish it forth throughout the World Thus our Lord and Saviour gave Commission and Direction And accordingly his Apostles did travel about on Horses and Ships unto the Places afar off to make known these things and so their Words went out unto the End of the World But we according to his good and gracious Promises do expect a more universal preaching of his Word and sending of his Spirit As He is the Confidence of all the Ends of the Earth and of them that are are afar off upon the Sea Psal 65. 5. So he will manifest and make himself fully known unto them Our selves as yet know him by Faith we hear of him with the Hearing of the Ear we see it written of him we understand and perceive from within but the Words of Life and Knowledge may be sent and published unto others By the Help of Ink and Paper we may speak to those whom we have not seen and to the Nations afar off Men and Brethren of every Country of the Earth let me freely speak unto you of the Patriarch David that he is both dead and buried Whilst he lived he ruled over one single Nation of small Extent and he was likely to have been thrust from that by his Son Absolom but the Lord sustained him He had no forreign and new Conquests nor did he enlarge Territories Himself was not made the Head of the Heathen nor did People whom he knew not serve him Therefore being a Prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an Oath to him that of the Fruit of his Loins according to the Flesh God would raise up Christ to sit on his Throne He seeing this before spake of the Kingdom of Christ that it should extend over all He shall have Dominion also from Sea to Sea and from the River unto the Ends of the Earth and so as is further said in the Seventy Second and Eightieth Psalms Thou hast delivered me from the Strivings of the People It is the general Stile of Prophecies to run in the Present or Preterpefect Tense which saith things are ready or have been when it speaks of things to come which denotes the great Truth and Certainty thereof that it will as really be as if it was at this present Moment or had been already fulfilled It is the Word and Promise of the high and lofty one who inhabiteth Eternity to whom all things are present and before him Who sits above and hath in his Power the Times and Seasons He is above all Difference and Distinction of Times but according to our Capacity and Understanding he expresseth himself in this wise Yet have I set my King upon my holy Hill of Sion Ask of me and I shall give thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance and the uttermost Parts of the Earth for thy Possession Psal 2. 6 8. God hath established his Worship and Kingdom by little and little and ordained that those who submit unto it should do it freely It was a considerable Time before he brought his first Begotten Son into the World and then he endued him with such Power and Excellency that others might believe on him as sent from God and come to serve and honour him for whoso doth honour the Son he doth honour the Father also All People had sufficient Reason and Invitation to come unto him yet none is forced His Throne was set up in the appointed Place for the Law shall go forth of Sion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem Micah 4. 2. Every Man or Woman that will may be obedient to it We are to fear the Name of the Lord whom we have heard of and we are to comply with his Will which is made known unto us Herein is the Kingdom of God superiour and different from that of Men for we ought to obey him that is invisible before those whom our Eyes see And it was never known nor heard of among the Children of Men that those did exercise Authority whom none of their Subjects ever saw God is a Spirit and is manifested unto and in our Spirits and he is also evident to the outward Eye for this sees the things which his Hands hath made Our selves do inhabit in and discern the Temple wherein also he dwells and which he fills with his Presence Heaven is his Throne and the Earth is his Footstool So that we have as great Assurance that the Lord is King as that there are Governours over such particular Nations or as a Son is assured that he had a Father or a Servant that he hath a Master And there should arise the same continued Obligation of Duty towards our God as is actually given to those earthly Relations according to what is written Vnto thee lift I up mine Eyes O thou that dwellest in the Heavens Behold as the Servants look unto the Hand of their Masters and as the Eyes of a Maiden unto the Hand of her Mistress So our Eyes wait upon the Lord our God until that he have Mercy upon us Psal 123. 1 2. A Son honoureth his Father and a Servant his Master If then I be a Father where is mine Honour and if I be a Master where is my Fear saith the Lord of Hosts Mal. 1. 6. which is the most reasonable and natural thing in the World for in him we live and move and have our Being as certain also of your own Poets have said for we are also his Offspring For as much then as we are the Offspring of God we ought in all Times and in all Places to give all Honour and Obedience unto him And so accordingly we should if we had the Knowledge and did not forget God
must be some act and endeavour in Man There must be both a willingness and compliance in him to accept of what God hath done for him Agreeable hereunto is the whole Divine Revelation and that form of Speech our Saviour makes use of in reference to himself and his Disciples He that receiveth you receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me Mat. 10. 40. And he that despiseth you despiseth me Luke 10. 10. The one is a willing Act and the other a wilful Refusal So his Servant John speaketh unto the World He which is filthy let him be filthy still and he that is Righteous let him be Righteous still Rev. 22. 11. Not that it is the Mind of God that any one should continue in his wickedness for he hath no pleasure in the death of a sinner but rather that he turn and live But after former Calls there comes this kind of Speech That such an one may choose he may do what he will for God seems to cast him off and this makes People the more willing to come as we have an Example hereof in Judges 10. 13 14 15. As on the other hand when things are proffered and seem to be made easie they contemn it and do keep off The whole History of the Church ever since the World began and also the Method of his Spiritual Dispensation doth plainly shew that all Men are left to their free Liberty and Choice whether they will serve God or not And if it seem Evil unto you to serve the Lord choose you this day whom you will serve whether the Gods which your Fathers served but as for me and my House we will serve the Lord Joshua 24. 15. If thou dost well shalt not thou be accepted and if thou dost not well sin lieth at the door Gen. 4. 7. Truly God is the great King over all the Earth and he hath Right to Rule over all its Inhabitants He is the Lord and Governour of the World and it is meet that he should exercise Authority and receive Homage from all things which he hath made How much more from such a small spot and little part of his Creation as the Earth is Every one who doth in the least consider must acknowledge God's Dominion most just and due in the general for our selves assent unto that Honour and Obedience which are given to those several Relations of King Father and Master Whereas those according to the flesh and our own Fellow-Creatures are not so much in comparison of the high and lofty One as a single dust of the Ballance is to the whole Fabrick of the World or as a drop of a Bucket to the Sea or as a single Grashopper is to all the Creatures that have Life and Breath So there should not be the least grudging at his Superiority and Regining over us And as our selves like to have things done readily and chearfully so likewise it is reasonable that God should expect the same of us Thy People shall be willing in the day of thy Power Psal 110. 3. God is the same from all Eternity and hath at all times the very same Power for he can do all things and whatsoever he pleases But as it is said in another place Many a time turned he his Anger away and did not stir up all his Wrath Psal 78. 38. So likewise he hath not yet in this Earth nor doth now exert all his Power and Might Indeed sometimes he doth make a little more then ordinary manifestation thereof as in those Signs and Wonders which he wrought of Old Time and then we hear what effect they had for they did cause an impression upon the Minds of People and they were for the time Reverent Submissive and Obedient towards God He might have continued the like tokens among them and have given them a succession of more which also should have spoken as sensibly unto them as out of the Cloudy Pillar That it was because they kept not his Laws which he gave them These things were done once or twice in the several Generations that passed through here not to every Generation but to those in former time that they might tell their Children to come to see if they would be perswaded to keep his Statutes and observe his Laws by what they heard God visibly did amongst their Forefathers Those Miracles were soon over and did not remain long among them To prove whether the Remembrance would have the like effect as when they were present and before the Faces of People Who were over-aw'd by the sight of such dreadful Things might still call to mind the same and perform a free and ready Service And so as they did look back and had heard of the things done heretofore so we now living may likewise reflect on the same And we who now stand in these latter days on the Earth may look forward to what may be in our time and in the Generations following When God shall yet in a more extraordinary manner than since the beginning of the World or Man was Created on the Earth Bow the Heavens and come down declare his Power and Presence in a much more visible and eminent manner than ever of old time when the Lord God shall dwell amongst us and Reign before his Ancients Gloriously Who would not fear and obey thee O King of Nations forasmuch as thou containest all the good and excellency which is any where to be found amongst the best and wisest of the Sons of Men. For thou first gavest unto them what is now loved and honoured in them And therefore more Reverence and Love and Thanksgiving and good Will belong unto thee of whom are all things Thou didst therefore communicate a light and imperfect measure of Good unto the best of Men lest they should draw off from looking on thee who art All in all When God himself shall come and appear even the Rebellious also shall submit unto him for they shall be over-awed with his Majesty and Greatness and they shall be likewise perswaded thereunto by his Goodness and Truth The desire of all Nations shall come and he shall so clearly manifest himself to be indeed what he hath revealed himself Loving unto every Man He doth good and filleth our Souls with Food and Gladness when this is throughly known then all former Prejudices and Aversation against him shall vanish and be utterly done away In that day shall this Song be Sung by his Elect and peculiar People This is the Lord whom we have waited for and others shall be astonished and confounded within themselves how it came to pass that they should either despise or conceive evil Thoughts against him They shall bite their Tongues for Indignation which did utter hard Speeches against his Majesty The Lord and his Saints shall convince them of their ungodly deeds Jude 15. and they shall be so vexed within themselves that they would even of their own accord cut off both
get so much and then enjoy our selves according as the Phrase of the World is or to please our selves with keeping an Abundance as the covetous Mammonist doth Yet still this is a meer conceit and a Reasonable Creature cannot be filled or satisfied with that and here Psal 49. 17 18. lies express against him For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away his Glory shall not descend after him Though whilst he lived he blessed his Soul All the Service and Labour after Mammon is evidently determined within this short Time and it stands in no stead at all further Now an Account shall be demanded what we have done here What Provision was made against the Time to come What Foundation was laid in by good Works Wherefore was all their Labour about perishing and temporal things And not about the eternal which do remain Every one is to give account for his Talent and how he improved it to the Glory of his Master that he may receive Authority and Commendation proportionable It shall be recompensed to every one according to what he hath done Where was more done there shall be a greater Reward so that all the Actions of a Man tend as much to himself in that State as what is done in the present Time The unprofitable Servant is to be bound Hand and Foot and to be cast into outer Darkness Every one is called to work in the Vineyard and if any one doth not come as soon as he is called as those did in the Parable Mat. 20. himself must answer before Almighty God for the Refusal to obey his Commands And also People do not attend nor rightly consider how they willingly deprive themselves of so much Wages and Recompense Seeing that God hath revealed himself to be so bountiful and good a Master Servants should shew themselves accordingly unto him and as it were meet him in the Way of Righteousness They are to strive who should run fastest who shall perform their Work with a more willing and chearful Mind and to offer themselves who shall make the first Assault or do such an Act of Duty for even thus much is done for our Masters according to the Flesh Is not God more gracious and better than they Are not his Benefits as valuable Ought not his Favour and Good-will to be more esteemed But his good things are to come why whatsoever we now have and enjoy did first proceed from God and is his own Man hath the Use of some things but God hath the Propriety of all But the greater things also will be actually present as those things now before us are and then these present things shall be utterly done away So they are upon equal yea more Advantage than what is now before our Eyes Tribulation Anguish and self-Indignation will be upon every Soul that did neglect them for perishing Bubbles and empty Nothings Which then they find as before they might have learned to come to nothing at all for they were just had and passed by And yet by the Nature of them by the utmost Certainty and Reality of future and invisible things they might have been perswaded to seek diligently after them For the same Word of Truth which spake of the one hath told us of the other also By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made Psal 33. 6. And upholding all things by the Word of his Power Heb. 1. 3. which hath created and given to each thing its Nature and now connects and holds things fast together as they are The same Word saith For behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth Isa 65. 17. so that as certainly as things now are and stand after this manner as they do at present they will be likewise so fulfilled as we are foretold of Those gracious Promises in Isa 45. 17 18 19. are confirmed with the like Reason which is as it were inserted between them viz. But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting Salvation Ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded World without End For thus saith the Lord that created the Heavens God himself that formed the Earth and made it he hath established it he created it not in vain he formed it to be inhabited I am the Lord and there is none else I have not spoken in secret in a dark Place of the Earth I said not unto the Seed of Jacob seck ye me in vain I the Lord speak Righteousness I declare things that are right Here is an Answer and full Satisfaction given to that common Question and Thought what do People get by the Service of God They expose themselves to prevent Self-denial and Labour but what Recompence and Gain For if others are diligent after worldly things they do commonly obtain But here we are assured of that which cannot be had in this World To be saved with an everlasting Salvation There is no present Return to exercise our Faith and Waiting So that now we become liable to Shame and Disappointment by labouring for nothing Yet what saith the Witness of God Ye shall not be ashamed World without End At long run it shall not be thus At the End of Time it shall be otherwise and this is ratified by what we now see even his lesser Works are done for some Purpose as in the Instance here assigned the Earth was created to be inhabited But here again Faith is exercised for some things seem to be created in vain and a Part of the Earth is not inhabited as barren Mountains and the waste howling Wilderness yet there are also Creatures of some Sorts and God may have great Intents and Purposes herein which we know not as yet but shall know He asserts himself by his Name the Lord to be ALMIGHTY the chief and only Ruler and none can controul him so that he will perform what he hath said If one thinks within himself to do thus or makes private Promises there he may alter his Mind or Falsify and meet with no Discredit but only from the Person to whom it was entrusted But God declares out of the Thoughts of his Heart and speaks out publickly to all the World that neither the Seed of Jacob nor any one who doth the Works of Abraham or comes within the Covenant made to the Patriarchs shall seek him in vain Again He confirms it further by his righteous Nature and declaring the things that are right So we may be bold to say that where in serving him we submit our selves to present Loss or Labour there God is pleased to speak in Righteousness and thence we may assuredly gather that he will render a Reward accordingly But as he is gracious and bountiful it will as much exceed our Works as if one should give a Thousand Pounds to a Labourer when he deserves no more than a Penny God is not unrighteous to forget your Work and Labour of Love Heb. 6. 10. He will take notice of every thing that is done purely for him
now live is continually hastning towards its Period so we should at all times make Provision against this shall fail to be received up into the other that we may there continually partake of somewhat which we have done here Indeed the Fruits of the Earth do spring up and are ripe at such certain Seasons of the Year according to the Climate or Countrey but still the Husbandman hath some Employment all the Year round The Kingdom of God over the Souls of Men is not confined to Times and Seasons as in such an Age or Part of Life to such a Month or Day of the Year But this Work may be carrying on at all Times and Seasons The Word may be preached in Season and out of Season at Summer or VVinter Spring or Autumn Sabbath or VVeek-day in the Day-time or at Mid-night as they are journeying or sitting still in the Closet Family or Congregation Truth shall spring out of the Earth Psal 85. 11. at what time it shall please the Lord to open the Fountains of the great Depth And as the VVind bloweth when and where it listeth so he shall give his Spirit to search it out So again Righteousness shall look down from Heaven when the Lord shall pour down his Spirit from on high which as he hath done several Times already so it may acquaint us further of the things there He may instruct his Servants as those of old in what Disposition of Body and Soul they must be in for to receive it To get the foregoing Qualifications of Faith Knowledge Love of God Obedience Holiness Humility convenient Retirement and separating from their Brethren that they may the more approach unto God These things do not so much depend upon the outward Circumstances of set and definite Times of the Year but they come to pass at what Time pleaseth the Father and we receive the Grace and use the Means to be Partakers thereof Known unto God are the great things he will do for his Church for they are fixed in his eternal Purpose and Determination it is not for us to know the Times and Seasons which the Father hath put in his own Power Acts 1. 7. Perhaps the very Reason why these are not clearly revealed and manifested unto us is least in the mean while we should neglect our own Concern Our Minds might so run upon what things are to be done in the Generations following that we should leave undone what ought to be done in this Generation wherein we now live As the VVoman of Samaria saith When the Messias is come he will tell us all things John 8. 25. so we might be apt to apprehend it as to refuse to learn any thing in the mean while And when it is promised The Earth shall be full of the Knowledge of the Lord as the Waters cover the Sea Isa 11. 9. VVe might content our selves with our former Ignorance and reject any further Knowledge and Instruction in the mean while Even those great things of old time have been transacted by outward Means and we ought still to use those Means which are in our Power to put them forth with all our Skill and Might and then let the Lord do what seemeth him good We know not at first what a Blessing and Success he may give unto them but we may somewhat perceive it afterwards Then things may rise up beyond our Expectations when in the Beginning we are apt to distrust and faint in our Mind Had our selves done nothing or after we had undertaken it then let it fall then it was our own Refusal that we were not Instruments in carrying on the Work of the Lord or he might take it from us and make choice of and give it unto others who should throughly perform his Will If the Way is shewed unto us and we are put in such a Capacity we have also an Impulse and Pressing of Mind to the same and the VVork is right and good as appears evidently from his VVord and the Examples of old there we may and indeed ought to walk in that VVay and actually do according to the Power given us and also comply with the Dictates of a rectified and truly informed Conscience If God may be glorified by such an Action and Good may be done unto others this should be indeed performed And seeing it should be done by some one why not by thee to whom he hath given the Knowledge thereof endued with Ability and is stirring thee up by his Spirit We may learn from Exodus 4. 10 11 12 13. that God is not pleased with Excuses or Delays or with alledging our own Imperfections for he made us at first and can also mend and increase what he hath begun He sent forth further Strength and Ability according as the thing requires The stammering Lips may at length speak plain as in the Beginning of Speech The Voice which was hasty and confused may become clear and distinct And who acquaints at first in general with the Errand that he should go to such a Place and do such a thing will afterwards according to his own divine Method in Acts 9. 6. teach particularly what he shall say And put the very Words into our Mouth a little before or in the very same Hour Mat. 10. 19. just as they are to be uttered forth Remembring still that we are but Instruments in the Hands of God We are to receive the Thoughts he puts into our Heart and to speak them out with our Lips but we can say no more nor think of pertaining to him than what he suggests and puts into our Mind We are to execute what he puts into the Power of our Hands but we can do no more Our God doth not require more than he hath given Those Talents are to be exercised and traded withal which he hath committed unto us but he will never call us to Account for more than we have received So we are to use Diligence and Labour according to what we can In the first Place we should pray unto God O learn me true Vnderstanding and Knowledge that I may keep thy Commandments Now these are either things to be abstained from or things to be done The first are properly Prohibitions or Forbiddings but the Word Commandment imports Duty which is to be done That must be discerned and known before it can be begun and because there may be Hindrances and Oppositions those also are to be seen and overcome that it may be accomplished In the Way to Heaven there are many Turnings aside which we are to be acquainted withal and avoid that we may keep on still in the right Way for if we go out there is so much Time and Labour lost to no purpose which might have set so far on The best Use hereof is to be more careful for the future to keep on right In every worldly Business and Design there are such foregoing Means And if they do at first hit upon those which are
Contempt and cast them into a bottomless Pit to suffer the Vegeance of eternal Fire In God is first contained and from him is derived every good and perfect thing even what is enjoyed or can be further desired by the Sons of Men. O Lord the Hope of Israel all that forsake thee shall be ashamed and they that depart from me shall be written in the Earth because they have forsaken the Lord the fountain of living waters Jer. 17. 13. God sendeth Rain upon the just and the unjust He giveth common Mercies promiscuously and indifferently to all but there is somewhat more and greater in being the Hope of Israel Somewhat is hidden and reserved there only for those who come unto him as again who forsake him miss thereof And when this shall be opened and actually given then Shame Vexation and Anguish will possess those who by their former demerits and provocation have lost their share and portion in this matter They that depart from me shall be written in the Earth When they have left and gone aside from him above they must cleave unto and pursue after somewhat And they cannot follow after any thing but what is in this place where they live And seeing they have chosen the Earth either the Men or Things therein let them make the most thereof But what will they do when the Earth and all the Works thereof shall be burnt up When themselves and others who inhabit here shall die And if they thought themselves well enough because tho' the things herein are perishing yet themselves are perishing likewise and they serve for their Time Nevertheless they must remain elsewhere for they have immortal Souls and returning Bodies And what shall they do throughout the Length and Space of Eternity when all the things wherein they before trusted are utterly gone and removed from them Even the Men of this World which have their Portion in this Life Psal 17. 14. might thus know and conclude As they thought it worth their while to secure this Place and Time who were for getting the best and fattest things that they might live happily and comfortably who were for the greatest and wisest Company in the whole Country of their Abode they might have looked up and have learned to be acquainted with thee O King of Nations for as much as among all the wise Men of the Earth and in all their Kingdoms there is none like unto thee They might understand and seek after the Lord whose is not only the Earth but the whole World and all that is therein for he made Heaven and Earth and all things Who whilst they lived did bless their own Soul Psal 49. 18. did so hug themselves with the Comforts and Conveniencies of this short Time they might much more hope for and endeavour after the good things of Eternity and take a more diligent and greater Care how themselves might live blessed for ever They might have further trusted unto him who as they experimentally found did good giving them Rain from Heaven filling their Souls with Food and Gladness So the Lord will perfect that wich concerneth them Psal 138. 8. Those perishing and fading Comforts were an Earnest and Assurance that he would give the true and enduring Happiness for such who should endeavour to be found worthy for to receive the same If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous Mammon who will commit to your Trust the true Riches Luke 16. 11. As he provided them with the meat which perisheth which was had by Labour Dressing and other forgoing Means and that did preserve Health and Life for the Time so likewise he afforded the Meat which endureth unto everlasting Life which also was to he had by using such Means of Grace And as many as did receive and comply with the Workings of that Grace they shall be crowned and actually invested with the other to which it did tend and grow up As he is the God of the Earth so of the Heavens also And as he hath determined our Dwelling and Abode here for a Space so he will take us up unto the Heavens for evermore Here we have no continuing City but now we desire that which would continue and that must be an heavenly Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he hath prepared for them a City Heb. 11. 16. which like himself must remain for ever He took us out of our Mothers Womb and doth hold us up from the Cradle unto the Grave In the mean while he reneweth his Mercies and Preservation every Morning and there is still something more than all this Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with Benefits even the God of our Salvation He that is our God is the God of Salvation and unto God the Lord belong the Issues from Death Psal 68. 19 20. In that Word Salvation is comprised more than can be possibly had in this World Salvation imports to be free from all Evil Fear and Danger which none is in this World For consider of those who are in the most safe Condition and think themselves so yet the last Enemy waits for them which is Death and thence is Fear and Doubt But we have Assurance from our God who brought us into Being who carrieth us thro' here who is Lord of Life and hath Power over Death that he will give a Rising and Deliverance from that Now we have the most doubtful Apprehensions concerning Death and the future State For though on this Earth we are encompassed about with Fear Pit and the Snare yet we know what is the utmost of things here and what usually happens unto others So we are contented and freed from Terror and Amazement But further on if we did consider rightly we have more Hope and Security from the Lord being our Hope and the God of our Salvation And there he declares beforehand that neither he nor we shall be ashamed For hereby he will do more for us than we can ask or conceive and we shall find it to be infinitely more than we could expect and which will make an abundant Compensation for whatever Difficulty Loss or Trouble we did sustain in coming to be Partaker thereof And though our God shall cause us to inherit high Places Isa 58. 12. yet we shall not be in the least Danger or Suspicion of falling Thou shalt be far from Terror for it shall not come near thee Isa 54. 11. We shall be more strongly secured from every Evil or Misery and be wholly exempt from the Thought and Apprehension thereof as we shall be let into the Possession and Enjoyment of all Good and Excellency so the Continuance thereof to everlasting that we shall never lose nor be deprived of it will be made so sure and ratified unto us as they are certain of that Moment wherein they have it or as we are at present sensible that we live and breath or that we have what we grasp at this Instant
It will be a much stronger Assurance than any had of the House which he called by his own Name and continued in his Family for most Generations Here our Bodies are dying the Timber and Walls do waste and decay but as we now perceive this so there will be the same Certainty that the House in the Heavens is eternal and will never sink for the Lord will be its Support and keep it as long as himself is God which is for ever and ever But thou art the same and thy Years shall have no End This may seem strange and new Doctrine to those who were not particularly told of it before or did not believe or did not throughly consider but it will be evidently set before our Eyes We shall as clearly know perceive and be throughly made sensible thereof as of the Life we now live and of things wherein at present we are concerned and acquainted with We shall be equally yea and much more affected with them as of the things whereof the Men of this World take most Thought and Care Even they who heretofore were so careless and indifferent as to heavenly and spiritual things yet when they shall come to discern how nearly they did belong to them and of how much greater Moment they were even as to immediately relate unto their own selves their eternal Happiness or Misery Then will succeed the utmost Indignation and Anguish for their former Neglect or Refusal And there will be the most earnest coveting yea and seeking even unto Tears for to partake thereof They shall know and see that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord and that my Fear is not in thee saith the Lord of Hosts Jer. 2. 19. They were alienated from the Life of God through the Ignorance and Blindness that was in them They did not conceive what God was though his visible and standing Works were a continual Witness before them And further they might have sought and read out of his Book and have looked into their own Souls which were made in his Image and therefore from within her self she could have some Apprehension of her Maker Indeed God hideth himself in all these but yet he might be somewhat found out by those who would seek and feel after him but when himself shall appear oppenly and fully discover himself in his true Nature then those shall be strangly incensed and confounded who heretofore would not receive the Knowledge of him thro' Prejudice and strange Imaginations For then we would never have carried our selves after such a Manner towards him We would have sought diligently and enquired after God and we would have liked to have retained him in our Knowledge We would have chosen his Fear if we had then apprehended It was all really so as now we see and are fully convinced it is Why of this you were or might have been truly informed in the Beginning Though in the State of Absence and Darkness we could not behold God clearly as he was yet when the King was afar off we could perceive so much of his Beauty that we could conclude it to be certainly real and much more than what we did at that Time see For we had then those manifest Glimpses of his Greatness and Glory that we might be most fully satisfied that all was so which did pertain to him Like as we have heard so have we seen and infinitely much more for not the one Half nor yet the thousandth Part was told us All things are better and greater than the most knowing Saint did believe yea more than the Prophets themselves who searched diligently and enquired after these things could apprehend As we believe so have we spoken We now act and Labour if we may attain to them so then they will be found much exceeding our utmost Knowledge and Labour Now it is in our searching after understanding and seeking the Knowledge of God as in travelling from one Place to another or in new Roads there doth every now and then open a fresh and further Prospect We pass over new Ground and we find something more to confirm us in the Judgment we had before of this good Land So if we seek for God in his Works Word Grace and inward Manifestation he appears to be most great true good and gracious worthy to be known and received Indeed we cannot by searching find out the Almighty to Perfection because of that weak frail dark and imperfect State we are are now in We shall know more in the first Minute after we are dislodged from this Tabernacle than we could attain unto by Prayer diligent seeking and by intense thinking all our Life-time before But seeing that God hath now allotted us such a Space on Earth to understand and seek after him Psal 14. 2. that we may be careful all along to perform exactly the same and in such manner as near as we can attain which implies an actual Endeavour to do it even so as God doth require it of us The Desire of our Soul is to thy Name and to the Remembrance of thee Isa 26. 8. So the End and Intention of all our Thoughts Words and Actions is to be unto his Glory and to have them ruled and squared by his Word It is evident that when Men are as they should be that is freed in good Measure from Sin and Ignorance the very Desire of their Soul riseth and makes towards God Which is a most sure and certain Token that he is good and agreeable to our Nature for else he could not be desired by us There is indeed a Consciousness of Imperfection and Absence somewhat more we would have and to somewhat more we would be yet more nearly united Now God will make up all this to every one of us He will satisfie and replenish to the utmost brim-full and running over every Desire He will triumph and reign before his Saints gloriously For though they did come short of what was expected and required from them yet God considereth they were but Dust which passeth away and cometh not again Such Occasions did suddenly pass by and not return again They were amidst Temptations and Hindrances by which they were overtaken and kept off so our God will restore such and supply what was wanting Yet himself is God and not Man He lies under no Disadvantages but will perform every Part of his Covenant to the utmost that it shall be returned to our selves with incredible Gladness and Rejoycing Lo this is the Lord we have waited for Truly God is good to Israel even to such as are of a clean Heart Psal 73. 1. Those Promises and gracious Expressions in Scripture and what the Holy Ghost saith concerning God they are penned in a modest and less Degree that even the thing may exceed what we were told of that what was in a little Measure reported of might be found marvellous and extraordinary So it will be of all things contained
contemptuously But yet they do much worse and are worthy of sorer Punishment who are not contented to let God alone but they have a secret Purpose as it were to dishonour him If they think that God may be glorified by such a thing they will with a secret Imagination what lieth in them cross that Intent and Purpose VVho will endeavour to disannul what he hath said and try to defeat what he hath purposed and intends to bring to pass Whom God hath exalted they consult to cast him down from his Excellency They bless with their Mouth but they curse inwardly Psal 62. 4. VVho after the manner of Hypocrites talk of God and his Glory but at the same time they both think otherwise in their Hearts and also practise contrary in their Actions God hath vowed to punish such Iniquity He doth first defeat and then over-rule their wicked Imaginations and Practices to his own greater Glory He that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh the Lord shall have them in Derision Psal 2. 4. He doth behold all the cunning Contrivances and Actings of Men towards him For the Lord is a God of Knowledge and by him Actions are weighed 1 Sam. 2. 3. of whatever Kind they be whether good or Evil whether they please or provoke him He knows with what Heart and Intent each thing is done Strange That any of the Sons of Men who are but meer Creatures who are weak and dying subject to Pain here and Misery hereafter liable to Death here and Damnation hereafter so likewise they are capable of receiving Good and Happiness and these come from without or can be manifested from within yet they should not endeavour at all times to behave themselves rightly towards the great Lord and Disposer of all things in the whole World All that we have already is from God and he hath reserved more which he can dispense forth according to his own good Will and Pleasure His Favour and loving Kindness are most worthy to be sought after for it gives Peace and Assurance at present and is better than Life it self which doth relish and perceive all things and then transmits over to an eternal State of Blessedness Who would not partake of this For even the Desire and Enjoyment of Sensuality the Endeavours after being great and highly esteemed redounds all to this at last that he may be an happy Man To be so for all Eternity is rather to be chosen than to be so only for a short Time Nay an assured Hope and Expectation of that is to be preferred before the present Pleasure of Sin for as every one feels within himself and is sensible of there is a certain fearful Expectation of the End of that which is Death and Punishment Who will shew us any Good Psal 4. 6. is the Language of every one Where and how it may be had is the great Thought and searching of Heart yea and there is an actual Endeavour after it where it may be had with some little Pains and Labour as appears by the several Actions Ends and Designs of Mankind And though the Generality of the World hath been long settled on the Lees and they do still continue so They are sunk down into Earthliness and this present Life And they being wholly taken up with the Conveniences and small perishing Pleasures of this Life they do not care to rise and ascend up higher But yet they would do well to give heed unto those VVorkings and Movings of their Soul for that equally reaches after Happiness and covets after somewhat which is wanting in order to it as the Body desires Food and Health towards Preservation of its Life here This is only the Time of Trial and State of Preparation If we can shew our selves faithful and overcome but all our Acts here are in Order and Tendency to somewhat hereafter They are but Means towards the End and as a Scaffold towards the building up an House eternal in the Heavens Nothing here is compleat and for it self All we are still passing on and like wayfaring Men who have a Refreshment but no Abode who make some Stop but no continued sitting down And when we would as it were rest and fix up our Abode yet the very Succession Change Perishing and Weariness of our Acts teach us thus much The Times and Seasons instruct us in this the Four Quarters of the Year Spring Summer Autumn and Winter The constant Course of Day and Night also Infancy Childhood Youth Manhood and declining Age the Times of Labour Recreation Eating and Drinking all these pass on Too many are like Men amazed and astonied they know not what all this means They know not neither will they understand they walk on in Darkness all the Foundations of the Earth are out of course Psal 82. 5. Though the Light hath shined and manifested what their End is of being here and what is required of them yet they are willingly ignorant but go on as the rest do This is the Manner of the Inhabitants of the Earth that dwell carelesly that say in their Hearts We are and none besides us Zeph. 2. 15. There is a secret disowning of God above or if they acknowledge him by a few Acts of outward Worship yet they confine all to that but they have not to do with him in the common Actions and general Course of their Life Here they conclude that they are left to themselves and these things they imagine are in their own Power Some others will have Respect unto God in little trivial Concerns but for those of greater Moment they do not take Counsel of him nor yet are directed by his Law nor yet do they consider rightly for his Glory Were Men verily perswaded and did they act accordingly That God is to be obeyed in all things and at all Times not only in his Presence in the Sanctuary but also when they are more Apt to forget him at home and abroad in their going out and coming in Not only before his Saints and Servants as Paul did intimate concerning the Philippians but also when they are absent and afar off The Lord's Name is to be praised from the rising of the Sun unto the going down thereof So in Man's going forth unto his Work and Labour until the Evening And then we are to lie down in Remembrance of him and to rise up again to glorifie him To think upon him whilst in Bed and awaking and as others Devise Iniquity in their Beds so our selves should forecast which Way we shall most serve and honour him If this were universally practised by all Persons in all Places we should see another kind of World than as yet hath been And do we not think it would be better and more happy with Mankind if they did thus then as now they do in living securely and negligently The Mistake and Errour is that they do not see the different and miserable Effects till it is come upon them So the Prophet
thy Righteousness as the Waves of the Sea which mounts up and ascends on high So it is here said in the following Verse of this Psalm last quoted I will praise thee with Vprightness of Heart when I shall have learned thy righteous Judgments Both which are given to signifie and from hence we may learn that the Happiness of God's chosen doth not only consist in a perfect Peace and true Satisfaction of Mind tho' these are things very desirable and beyond what the World gives But it breaks forth into Singing and Joy unspeakable full of Glory That I may see the Good of thy chosen that I may rejoyce in the Gladness of thy Nation Psal 106. 5. Here are ascending Steps one after another There is not only a Freedom from Evil and Misery nor yet only a Stayedness and full Content of Mind but it hath further Delight and Refreshment and also can express it self forth as others shew forth outward Signes of Rejoycing So that when the World shall be perfectly obedient and what is consequent to that reconciled unto God when his People shall be all righteous Isa 60. 21. and each Man and Woman throughout the Earth observe all Parts and every least Tittle of their Duty to God they shall not be dull nor yet in deep Silence But they shall be more merry talkative and pleasant in speaking of and praising God for his wonderful works than now they are or have ever yet been about other things Their Heart shall rejoyce as through Wine their Heart shall rejoyce in the Lord Zech. 10. 7. which will very much exceed the Mirth of Tabret or Harp or the Joy of Feasts Their Talking shall be of God's Doings declaring his Truth and singing forth the Praises of the Lord In which they shall find more Variety yea and agreeable Satisfaction than heretofore in spending their Time in hearing or telling of some new thing some little Novelty idle Story or foolish Jesting They shall more rejoyce in the several Parts of Duty than formerly in the Pleasures of Sin for a Season All the Briskness and pretended Merriment of that compared with the Joy and Exstacy of God's Chosen shall be darkened and exceeded as the Light of the Moon is by that of the Sun or as the small and faint burning of a Candle is to the Lights of Heaven The seeming Activity of Souldiers and men of Valour all that Shew of Briskness Renown and Courage whereby in Times past the Abaddon and Destroyer hath stirred up Thousands to butcher and kill one another shall be infinitely exceeded by the Lord of Hosts and by his Army of Saints according to what is written They shall run like mighty Men They shall climb the Wall like Men of War and they shall march every one on his Ways and they shall not break their Ranks They shall run to and fro in the City they shall run upon the Walls they shall climb up upon the Houses They shall enter in at the Windows like a Thief and the Lord shall utter his Voice before his Army for his Camp is very great for he is strong that executeth his Word for the Day of the Lord is great and very terrible and who can abide it Joel 2. 7 9 11. Their Speed Resolution and Order shall as much exceed that of the most excellent and victorious Army which was ever heard of since the VVorld began as they do a Flock or Herd of Sheep God is glorified by Action when the Powers which he hath given are exerted and then he will give yet more when little Creatures do great things when what before lay hid is put forth Thy People shall be willing in the Day of thy Power Psal 110. 3. The Lord himself shall again awake as one out of Sleep and like a Giant refreshed with VVine As he endues every thing that hath Life and Breath with Powers of Action or Motion so himself will cause that that it be manifested forth he will subdue his Enemies in the hindermost Parts and put them to a perpetual Shame Those tormenting Passions shall be stretched out and come sorth in the VVicked So again the delighting Affections shall be stirred up in the Good and vent forth in the utmost Gladness and Pleasure Thou shalt increase my Greatness and comfort me on every Side I will also praise thee with the Psaltery even thy Truth O my God unto thee will I sing with the Harp O Thou holy One of Israel My Lips shall greatly rejoyce when I sing unto thee and my Soul which thou hast redeemed Psal 71. 21 22 23. Here in this VVorld of Opposition Sin and Temptation we do meet with great and sore Troubles but when once those are done away there will succed a more than proportionable Degree of Joy and Consolation This is figured by that Phrase so usual in the Prophets of Joy in the Harvest It is but a faint and imperfect Comparison to set forth the Transports and Extasies which shall be of God's People As a Bridegroom rejoyceth over his Bride so shall the Lord rejoyce oves his People and they reciprocally shall joy in the God of their Salvation who were formerly possessed with Horrour and Dread they do at length arrive at Reverence and Good-will and then their Souls do greatly rejoyce in God and he doth put Gladness into their Hearts more than can be expressed by Corn and Wine or any worldly thing When we do sincerely and actually endeavour to be holy as he that hath called us is holy then he is perfectly reconciled unto us Notwithstanding his infinite Greatness he doth humble himself to become familiar to our Nature All former Averseness and Enmity are vanished away And we being fully resolved to keep his Commandments at all Times and that our Lord shall guide us continually he doth according to his gracious Promise keep him in perfect Peace whose Mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth on thee We may see and perceive a tittle Representation hereof in the Communion of Saints here on Earth who when they are obedient and like-minded do find exceeding Joy and Sweetness with one another as they talk of and derive it down from the God above The like will be much more in the Times of universal Reformation when the whole Earth shall be at Rest and Quiet it shall break forth into Singing Isa 14. 7. the one before the other The Pleasures of Sin or the Laughter of the World are not so much to that as sounding Brass and tinkling Cymbal compared with the best Musick All carnal Joy is now sudden mix'd and unsatisfying But what comes down from the Father of Spirits or arises from doing his Will that doth remain and is sincere gives a blessed Expectation till we awake after his Likeness and are satisfied with it The Joy is suitable with our imperfect Condition here it increases as we grow up towards Perfection and is in us a Well of Water springing up unto eternal
Life what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink is not the Life more than Meat aod so in V. 32. it is inculcated for after all these things do the Gentiles seek They know nothing more no do they discern much more in Life than Meat Drink and Raiment just to receive and use these things and rise up to play But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness for that is more and of longer Concern and this Life and the things thereof is only in order to that A Space only to prove and see whether we will therein seek after Immortality and Glory Sufficient unto the Day is the Evil thereof It brings more Evil than Good so it is not desirable to live only for living sake but to do the Work which the Lord hath sent us here to do And yet such is the false and contrary Practice of Worldlings that they are more concerned hew it goes with this Moment and Inch of Time than how it shall be with them throughout the whole Length of Eternity They are wonderfully careful and afraid of losing a little Good and suffering some small Evil at the present Time then they are fearful least they come short of the true and enduring Blessedness and least they fall into the Damnation of Hell What means that greedy and earnest catching at all the Pleasure or Profit that can be had and running away from all manner of Evil without regard to the Means whether they be sinful or not This is no Consideration or at least no Hindrance to the doing as they list Like natural Brute Beasts they are only mindful of what is just before them but regardless of what is to succeed They act perversely and go just contrary to the Command and Counsel of our Lord and Saviour for they take thought for to morrow and think themselves never sufficiently diligent in making Preparation for the Residue of this Life and how it shall go with them in the few remaining Days but they do not stretch their Care ond Provision further not giving Heed to be received up into the heavenly Kingdom when all these things shall fail Nor do they learn and practise the Righteousness thereof which would stand in stead Whereas Meat Drink and Raiment are for the Body but this Body shall at length drop from them and they shall have no need thereof One would admire how it comes to pass that so much Time and Labour are spent about the things of this Life as usually is When the Meat and Drink are soon received and the Raiment is quickly put on So that there is Time to spare to mind other things but they do as it were procrastinate and lengthen it out of set Purpose They seek out for superfluous and more than necessary things and hope to have this for an Excuse for not minding the one thing needful Nay who have those outward things without their own Care and Labour and have them brought to their Hand yet these do rather consume their precious Time in Sloth or sinful Pleasures or hungry Recreations or vain things But they are not employed in the Work of the Lord nor do they seek after the Pleasures of his House nor yet do they contemplate and seek to get an Interest in the Substance of the things hoped for which only are true and enduring They have some Fancy or seeming Reason for their present Manner of Life It hath a Shew of Pleasure Ease and Quietness but the Christian Course seems to them to meet with Opposition Trouble Hardship and Disturbance Whereas the former sensibly comes to nothing and to the other is promised a great Reward and an exceeding Weight of Glory But even now the idle or sinful Life is vexatious or tiresome It is accompanied with Restlesness and Dissatisfaction for the Mind of Man covets after something more and also hath Regret when he is not conversant about what he ought The Mind soars up above these lower things and though kept down or turned aside thro' the Policy and Deceivableness of Satan yet it is with Pain and Displeasure Those many silent Thoughts and Upbraidings of Spirit that self-Indignation the continual Fear and Doubt of Mind as often as it considers of God above or casts a Glimpse towards Eternity and future Life there is Horror and strange Amazement Every one nay the Worst Sinner or prophane Person doth sometimes think of these things And even who is most sunk into Earthliness or Ignorance his Life is continual Weariness and Vexation And they are willingly more cumbred with the things of this Life They do of set Purpose give way to it and consume the greater Part of their Time herein Because worldly Business is a Diversion from that Sorrow and Fear of Soul which they would otherwise labour under If we could bring out the several Things and Passages of their Life we should discover the manifold Misery of Ungodliness and Disobedience even at this present Time besides the Wrath of God which is now revealed from Heaven and shall be executed upon the Guilty when the Lord cometh with Ten Thousand of his Saints But on the other Hand in the several Steps of the Christian Warfare there is Contentedness Peace Hope and Assurance It hath the Strength and Comfort of God at present and also Application of the Promises which shall be made good and fulfilled hereafter The utmost that can be done in this vain Life which passeth away as a Shadow is but little and if we can possibly do any thing for which we may have the Acceptance of our God and obtain Good at the latter End it it is highly worth our greatest Pains and Labour At is is better to have it hereafter than now at present for as hath been heretofore often observed every thing had now doth pass away but what is to be revealed hereafter doth ever remain Certainly they have the best Portion and make the wisest Choice who are for the greater and more durable things who let the Shadow pass by but make sure of the Substance who are contented to foregoe some things which may endanger or lessen from their heavenly Inheritance Nay if it be strictly and properly considered there is no great Loss or Suffering in this for though the Means may be somewhat diminished or taken away yet our God through his gracious and and bountiful Nature by his wonderful and over-ruling Providence doth supply what is wanting and he doth nevertheless give the thing it self for which the others are esteemed necessary and sought after Such things are desired in order to Contentment and present Happiness and again we decline others lest they should bring on Evil and Misery Now God who maketh all things to work together for Good to them that love and fear him can and also doth give the same Contentment without them and also takes away or softens the pain when the nature of such a thing would inflict it And further When we
of the Law either going over and beyond it or doing otherwise than that hath prescribed or not doing what that hath enjoyned So that those stubborn Souls who will not live according to Words are convinced as transgressors and offenders of the Law of the most high God and they shall be dealt with accordingly for now they are under the Threatning and Curse and they shall hereafter be sensible of the Punishment and Misery Who is he that saith he will not obey the Law of God If any should do so as to the Laws of the King and our Country judgment would be executed upon him of Death or Banishment or loss of Liberty or Member according to the several sorts of Punishment among us And albeit our God doth keep Silence for a while and doth not execute Sentence speedily upon the Sons of Men yet it will be far worse with them who shall thus behave themselves towards the great King of all the Earth the Lord God Almighty It is near the same thing whether they speak out with a loud voice or say so in their Heart or practice it in their Life and Manners that They will not have God to reign over them see Luke 19. 14. Who set themselves against the Lord and against his Anointed saying Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their Cords from us Psal 2. 2 3. For they will not be holden in by invisible Restraints nor be kept away from their own doings by sense of any Divine Law and Obligation Our lips are our own who is Lord over us Psal 12. 4 But those who think and act after this manner are the worst sort of Sinners who do presumptuously and sin with an high Hand Few will own as much though more do so The general course of Transgression is by way of Excuse and Delusion and these do take up the forementioned Plea That because of the multitude of Words and the falshood Vanity and Evil of many of them therefore they do not live according to Words But as the Apostle saith There are it may be so many kinds of Voices in the World and none of them is without signification 1 Cor. 14. 10. So a Word is but as it were a Voice expressed and articulated And every word if it be proper and taken singly is significative but when they are connected together in a Sentence and are to shew forth the sense and meaning of somewhat then they are to be judged of and discerned There is Truth and Fulshood right Words and wrong But we should in no wise reject the Truth and Right because there are of the other worse sort for if we do that we certainly run into the other and so out of a shew to avoid Falshood and Wrong it is so managed by the cunning delusion of Satan that we do hereby fall into it The World and all the things we have to do with here are made up of Intermixture and Contraries where is Right and Wrong Good and Evil Truth and Falshood Apparent and Real So that if we have not the one we must have the other If we have not the better we shall meet with the worse And therefore if we would indeed have the better we must know and choose it accordingly but not despise and set at naught the more excellent things for this is submitting unto the worse According hereunto the Wisdom of God teacheth If thou shalt learn to put a difference between the Holy and Prophane the Clean and the Vnclean then shall ye be meet to come into mine House Such shall be meet to partake of the Inheritance with the Saints in Light who can thus seek out and discern things in this place of Darkness They shall be fit for Heaven who can and also do escape the Corruption that is in the World through Lust and thus order their Conversation aright here on Earth The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a Net that was cast into the Sea and gathered of every kind which when it was full they drew to shoar and sat down and gathered the good into Vessels but cast the bad away Matt. 13. 47 48. And so whatever thoughts arise or are suggested to our mind we are to entertain and nourish the Good but to extinguish cast forth and not admit the Evil. In like manner it should be of the words we hear or read we are to gather and receive the good words into our Hearts but to cast the bad away The Wheat is to be gathered and laid up in the Treasure of our Heart but the Chaff is to be blown away Knowledge and Truth are to be sought after and received but Imagination and Falshood are to be thrown out They are both mixed together for as by Learning and by right Consequences we come to the knowledge of the Truth so a false and deceitful kind of Reasoning will present it self and fallacious and mistaken Consequences will arise through the Sephistry of Satan and his Instruments which we are likewise to discern before we pronounce Judgment and try before we Believe Now every Man hath either the right and true Promises or others which are not And because all People pretend unto and would have the first through Pride and Self-conceit they mistake which they have already for them and so they will have no more nor better The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Knowledge but Fools despise Wisdom and Instruction Prov. 1. 7. VVhen our Heart and Understanding is first lifted up towards God and then looks down and sees things as he sees them which must be in their very Nature for certainly he knows them who made and Establish'd them VVhen the Apprehensive Faculty is enlightned from above and endued with that which cometh down from the Father of Lights we do first know and consider of the Great God over all and then how all other things were Created by him but now they are under him to Govern and Rule according to his good Pleasure both the things in Heaven the things in the Earth and the things under the Earth Some have not the knowledge of God I speak this to your Shame 1 Cor. 15. 34. Neither have they the understanding of his Law this is to their worse deserving And whatever they pretend unto others or seem to themselves to know it is separated from them both That is they discern somewhat of the Creatures without the Creator And because they understand not his Law neither do they perceive that Obligation they are under and the true connexion of things one to another So they are destitute of the true and useful Knowledge and in the Language of the Holy Ghost they are direct Fools Vnderstand ye Brutish among the People and ye Fools when will ye be wise Psal 94. 8. VVhich it is impossible they should be as long as they despise and reject the means of Being so VVhat is real VVisdom and Instruction may seem to them as Folly and
from out of the Hearts of the Inhabitants of the Earth as also from the Element it self And Righteousness shall look down from Heaven more clearly and visibly than ever it hath done yet But wherefore is it that we hear so very much that in the last days of all God will pour out his Spirit upon us from on High Isa 32. 15. For I will pour Water upon him that is Thirsty and Floods upon the dry Ground I will pour my Spirit upon thy Seed and my Blessing upon thine Off-spring Isa 44. 3. And it shall come to pass afterward in the last days saith God Acts 2. 17. that I will pour out out my Spirit upon all Flesh Joel 2. 28. And there is not altogether so much mention made of the Word then For after Jesus Christ who was the Word and the Word was God was taken away in his Bodily Presence from among Men he ordered that his Disciples should tarry at Jerusalem until they had received the promise of the Father and were endued with Power from on High And so in the beginning was the Word and all things were Created by it that were Made And during all this mean while they are upheld by the word of his Power And whilst these Generations pass through here the Word is to them all in all towards the making them a People prepared for the Lord and to give them an Inheritance amongst all them which are Sanctified But at the very ending Conclusion and shutting up of all things The Spirit is to do the main and principal Office But we read not altogether so much of the VVord then as aforetime Besides that the VVord is in Order and Succession of Time before the Spirit for Jesus Christ came first into the Flesh and then afterward the Holy Ghost was given according to that Emphatical Remark of one of the Inspired VVriters for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet Glorified Another great Reason hereof may be assigned That as the Angel sware by him that liveth for ever and ever who created Heaven and the things that therein are and the Earth and the things that therein are and the Sea and the things which are therein that there should be Time no longer Rev. 10. 16. For Time will be lost and swallow'd up in Eternity as a River or Brook is now lost when it empties it self into the wide Ocean So we may easily gather and understand that when all these things here mentioned shall be so perfectly and wholly made known and seen face to face when what is now afar off and Future shall be Present and just before us when Faith shall be turned into Vision and Hope into Fruition when Prophesies shall fail Tongues cease and Knowledge shall vanish away VVhen the whole Creation of God shall be new and changed from material and sensible things into Spiritual then we may conclude also That WORDS shall be NO LONGER But the things themselves heretofore expressed and apprehended by them shall succeed and be given unto the Creatures God doth all things in his own Order He first made known unto his Creatures the Words of Eternal Life and then afterwards he invests them with the thing it self of Eternal Life and then it is consequent that the words thereof should cease and fail as the Scaffold falls down or is taken away when the Building is Perfected and quite Finished Like as now in common Life there is great talk of such a Person 's coming as of the Messiah among the Ancient Jews but when he is come indeed then all that talk perisheth which did relate thereto For since the beginning of the World Men have not heard nor perceived by the Ear neither hath the Eye seen O God besides thee what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him Isa 64. 4. But when that great and enduring thing shall be actually given to the Creature by that God whom he hath waited for then all the thoughts of Heart and words of Mouth that were before concerning it will cease and come to an utter end VVhat Truth we now see written in a dead Letter or we hear in an outward Airy Sound or we conceive in our Mind will one day appear as a shining Ray of Light For Whatever doth make manifest is Light Eph. 5. 13. And all things then will appear in the Light of the Lord. And so this great Matter which we are contending for all along and perswading People unto shall be instantly and altogether done by the Spirit So that Jesus Christ the Son of God shall be delivered from the Strivings of the People and be made the Head of the Heathen and a People whom he hath not known shall serve him As soon as they hear of him they shall Obey him So that there is not need of many more words to enforce the Exhortation But by VVords Knowledge or Notice hath been given that one day so it shall be for all things which are written in the Scriptures of Truth must be fulfilled And also there is this further benefit and use of words that we are hereby taught and put in mind to be in a Readiness and Preparation for the same The VVord doth convert Sinners from the Error of their way like the droppings of Rain or the distillings of Dew that is it doth now and then bring in some individual Persons and that also is done by degrees and in succession of time But the pouring out of the Spirit from on High shall bring them in by shoals and multitudes and do the VVork Instantly and Immediately As soon as they hear of me they shall Obey me Then thou shalt see and flow together and thine Heart shall fear and be enlarged because the abundance of the Sea shall be converted unto thee the Forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee The Multitude of Camels shall cover thee All the Flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee Who are these that fly as a Cloud and as the Doves to their Windows Isa 60. 5 6 7 8. By all which kinds of Speech we are given to understand that very many in number shall flow and come over and be Converted unto God And the Sons of Strangers shall build up thy Walls This is near to the same purport and meaning as what is said in our great Scripture out of which I have here opened and alledged things all along The Strangert shall submit themselves unto thee The Strangers shall fade away and be afraid out of their close Places Those are Strangers who before had not known God nor Christ For although known unto God are all Men and Women as they are his Creatures yet God and Christ doth not know them as to be in Covenant with them I never knew ye depart from me ye that work Iniquity Matt. 7. 23. But they remain Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel who are without Hope without God in the World And yet here is